


Of Hope and Legacy

by GUROGAN



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Character Death, M/M, Pirate!Javier, Prince!Yuzuru
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-04-23 20:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14340735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GUROGAN/pseuds/GUROGAN
Summary: On the eve of Prince Hanyu's seventeenth birthday, he must decide who his Champion Knight will be. Meanwhile, feared pirate Javier Fernandez is captured within the Kingdom's borders. As is customary, Yuzuru meets with the condemned and much to everyone's dismay, pardons the pirate and declares him a candidate for his Knight.





	1. Chasing Innocence

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic for this fandom haha. I'm kinda nervous, but I hope you guys enjoy it.  
> I don't own anything and I'm not affliated with any of these skaters, just a fan! lol

The snow drifted across the landscape in flurries, soft and fleeting. Yuzuru watched from his place by the palace window, his hand pressed against the transparent pane

He enjoyed the bite of the cold against his pale fingers, the sensation welcoming and familiar from all of the nights he had observed the stillness of his kingdom in the darkness.

He knew that many visitors and detractors of his kingdom would call it desolate, frozen, a wasteland that was inhabitable aside from the select few who could handle the blistering cold.

All of those words had turned him bitter when he was a child, yet after the death of his parents and the marriage of his older sister, he had turned that bitterness into ambition. Now that once frozen wasteland was considered one of the most successful kingdoms in all of Japan. The fishing industry within his kingdom was thriving and while agricultural was still meager at best, it was still more profitable than what it was when Yuzuru first took power when he was fourteen.

"Yuzuru?" The tentative knock on the door startled the young prince out of his thoughts, his dark eyes flickered to the entrance of his room.

"Is there something wrong?" Yuzuru turned to his advisor, Brian. He was extremely fond of the man who had helped make his kingdom into the flourishing hub it was today. He had come from a land so far away that Yuzuru wasn't even sure it existed and his tales from his youth fascinated Yuzuru to no end.

"I have just been informed that a pirate was captured within the kingdom borders. He is currently being transported to the capital." Yuzuru nodded, pleasantly surprised that the rumored pirate had been captured so quickly after he had been notified earlier that day.

"He is condemned, right?" He hated saying those words, but he knew that the punishment for such crimes the pirate had committed in other kingdoms were too much to ignore.

"Right. You will have to meet with him in the morning and he will be hanged in the evening." The young prince bit his lip and jerked his chin down, his eyes downcast and melancholy.

His head jerked up when he felt his advisor ruffle his mop of black hair fondly. Brian gave him a chiding sigh before clapping his shoulder gently.

"Yuzu, it'll be alright." Brian said comfortingly, Yuzuru sent him a weary smile.

"Not easy sending man to die." He answered in Brian's language, Brian nodded solemnly in understanding. Prince Hanyu had been just a young child when they had first meet, he was a disciplined boy and extremely obedient. However, one trait that drove his other advisors and teachers crazy was Yuzuru's habit to wear his heart on his sleeve and the freedom he possessed when it came to expressing his emotions. If he didn't like something, the young boy had no qualms in letting everyone know.

While Brian found it endearing that Yuzuru cared too much, he knew that the elders were less than pleased with their prince's 'soft' attitude. They believed that a true leader had to be ruthless and conniving for the sake of their kingdom. Yuzuru eschewed all of those beliefs in favor of his own, more peaceful, way of running his dominion. It really was quite a beautiful thing, Brian thought.

"I know, but I believe you will make the right decision, Yuzu." His charge offered him a wavering grin, his heart breaking for someone so frail hearted.

Most people would conclude that Yuzuru had a heart made of ice, but Brian and all of those who knew Yuzuru, knew that the young ruler had a heart of fragile, stained glass.

"Thank you, Brian." The teenager sighed. He sat himself down heavily on his futon and pressed his palms into his eyes, rubbing at them tiredly. The gesture warmed his advisor's heart, as it reminded him that Yuzuru, although a prince, was still very much the child who had first meet years ago.

"Have you thought about your decision on your knight?" Brian asked in an effort to draw Yuzuru's attention away from the matters of the morning. The prince hummed for a moment, his hand pawing against his blanket in thought.

"I talk with council. They say Keiji, but I want him to protect Shoma, not me." Yuzuru explained with a weary sigh, Brian nodded and pursed his lips.

"What about Hino Ryuju?" Brian supplied, Yuzuru rubbed his hand against his face in irritation that the advisor knew wasn't directed at him.

"They say he too weak to protect me." The prince huffed grumpily.

"And Nobu?" His question was met with a shake of the prince's head.

"He too old and nice." Brian couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Maybe Keiji would be the best option." Yuzuru shrugged with a sour expression.

"I like Keiji, but Keiji like Shoma more. He kill me for Shoma." The teenager whined which made Brian laugh.

"Well then, I will leave you to sleep on it." Brian bowed and left the prince to his musings which were now tinged with an edge of darkness as he contemplated the morning's activities.

Brian had been so consumed by his own thoughts as he walked down the cold hallway that he didn't realize that he had bumped into someone until he heard a soft thump.

"Shoma-kun, I'm sorry. I must not have been watching where I was going." He apologized and helped the fourteen year old up to his feet.

Shoma bowed his head respectfully but kept his mouth sealed as he didn't know enough english to speak it properly but understood what Yuzuru's advisor had said.

"I think Yuzuru-sama is going to bed soon," Brian said, hoping that Shoma would take the hint but the teenager simply dipped his head.

"I say goodnight." He murmured and bowed before brushing past Brian. The older man shook his head with a grin, even though Shoma wasn't fond of anyone except for Yuzuru, his instructor Mihoko, Daisuke, and Keiji, he still was an adorable and shy child. He shrugged and went on his way, knowing that no words would dissuade someone like Shoma from seeing his friend.

~

Yuzuru yawned, readying himself for bed by slipping on the yukata he used for sleep as it was too cold to wear his jinbei. He paused for a moment when he heard a soft and timid knock at his door, he wondered if it was Brian again but dismissed the thought.

"Enter, please." He said aloud. He couldn't help but smile as Shoma shyly entered the room, wearing his own jinbei which made Yuzuru frown.

"Come here, you're going to freeze to death." Yuzuru scolded gently, gesturing with his arms for Shoma to come to bed with him. Shoma did as he was told, dutifully slipping into the futon along with Yuzuru he enveloped the young teenager into his arms.

"Next time, make sure you wear the thick yukata I got for you. Soon you're going to be too big to share a bed with and you're going to freeze to death." The prince giggled, smoothing a piece of Shoma's hair behind his ear in a brotherly manner.

"Yuzuru-sama is the only thing that keeps me warm." Shoma answered, turning his big puppy-like eyes to the older teenager.

"Shoma-kun keeps me warm too," Yuzuru agreed, hugging the fourteen year old to him like an old teddy bear.

"Goodnight, Yuzuru-sama." Shoma murmured into Yuzuru's chest, the warm feelings he felt when he was near his prince shielded him from the relentless cold.

"Goodnight Shoma." Yuzuru sighed, closing his eyes and attempting to fall asleep.

Shoma tsked to himself silently, his eyes drinking in the sight of a sleeping Yuzuru in the moonlight. His usually serene and relaxed face was tense; his teeth were grinding together and his eyebrows were creased tightly. While Shoma didn't make it a habit to sleep in the same bed with the prince like when he was younger, it worried him to see how much of Yuzuru's duties were taking a toll on him. Yet, on the same token, Yuzuru's once plush and soft face was giving way to sharper edges and finer lines as he aged. Soon, that round face would become that of a man's and he would be married, ending nights like these for Shoma.

It made his stomach clench painfully, the thought of Yuzuru forever being banished into adulthood with Shoma forever chasing him. He wished that they could stay like this for all eternity; Yuzuru being the doting older brother figure and Shoma basking in his innocent adoration.

Though, Shoma reasoned with himself, he knew himself well enough to know that he would also wish to chase adulthood like Yuzuru when he was older. With a heavy heart, Shoma closed his eyes and fell asleep. He dreamt of both him and Yuzuru freezing to death in the cold that they thrived in, the older teenager became a snowdrop with his blossom peeking out through the tendrils of snow while Shoma was swallowed in the freezing depths.

Even though he was encased in ice, Shoma watched in rapt admiration as Yuzuru's flower blossomed past the snow and to the sky, endless and ambitious. It filled him with joy, but it was tinged by a posionous feeling. He wasn't quite sure if it was jealousy or longing.

When he awoke, he was alone. The crisp winter air was lapping at his exposed chest and legs, the midmorning grey light made him bury his face into the pillow.

Shoma couldn't help the devastating feeling that something was going to change.


	2. Grasping at the Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prince Hanyu meets with the infamous pirate Javier Fernandez. He is immediately taken in by the pirate's foreign appearance but will he spare the murderer's life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the warm reception to this story!

Yuzuru awoke feeling sluggish, his limbs lethargic and his mind in a haze. He felt a hand brush against his side and he jumped in surprise before remembering that Shoma had fallen asleep with him.

He peered at the young boy, his face slack and void of awareness. His mouth was minutely open to puff air between his lips, Yuzuru smiled at him warmly.

Shoma had grown so much from the stony and silent eleven year old who had lost everything he had ever known. The loving caress of a mother, the strong reassurance of a father. Shoma had lost that, much like Yuzuru had lost it when he was fourteen. It made his heart tremble with barely restrained pain, so much so that he leaned over and pecked a small kiss on Shoma's forehead. Yuzuru laughed quietly when Shoma groaned in annoyance and turned away, his face pressed against Yuzuru's stolen pillow.

A purposeful knock let Yuzuru know that Brian was waiting for him so that they could start the day's appointments. He casted one last glance to the sleeping boy beside him and got up to dress himself in his traditional robe and his hanten which was lined with fur in order to keep him warm.

"Good morning Yuzuru." Brian bowed, Yuzuru greeted him and bowed as well before quietly closing his door behind him.

"Did Shoma ever go back to his room?" Brian asked nonchalantly, Yuzuru chuckled and shook his head.

"He spent night with me. Too cold in his room." Yuzuru explained, briskly walking down the hallway with Brian in toe.

"I'll arrange for more blankets to be delivered to his room this evening." The prince nodded in thanks before letting Brian open the door that led away from the Prince's chambers and to the main spiral staircase that led to the throne room which was the center of the icy palace.

Yuzuru and his advisor were met at the foot of the staircase by the Prince's armed guard. The four men bowed to the prince immediately and deeply, Yuzuru blushed, still unaccustomed to the attention his armed guards paid to him.

"You guys don't have to do that everytime you see me," he murmuered out of the corner of his mouth which made Nobu laugh and Keiji good naturedly roll his eyes. They assumed their formation around him, Nobu in front to the prince's right, Daisuke on the left, and the youngest members; Keiji and Ryuju flanking their prince. Together, they marched to the entrance of the throne room where Nobu and Daisuke opened the tall and stately doors for their prince.

"Crown Prince of the Ice Kingdom and rightful heir to the Snowdrop Throne, Prince Hanyu Yuzuru." Nobu announced and marched into the indulgently decorated throne room which was swathed in white, green, and blue shimmering fabric that descended from a crystalline shimmering chandelier in the middle of the room. The fabric reached from the center of the small throne room to the stone walls and cascaded down to the floor where it was met with richly embroidered blue cushions that the visiting nobles sat upon when in the company of the prince.

The guards marched to the middle of the room, all of the nobles and the councilmen bowed their heads in reverence to their ruler as he passed, a light and neutral smile on his lips. Nobunari raised his hand and halted the guards just beneath the crystal, snowflake-esque chandelier, their feet merely inches away from the pure white carpet where Yuzuru's crystal throne sat.

Yuzuru bowed his head to his guards in thanks and turned his body to the throne where his father use to sit and bowed, respectful and mindful to those who had ruled before him.

After a long moment in prayer to his ancestors, Yuzuru sat upon the clear throne. Everyone raised their heads, watching in rapt attention as Yuzuru's silver crown was pressed against his hair by an elder. The precious metal was twisted in such a way that gave it the illusion of two tree branches joining together with sapphires interspersed around the crown, it was Yuzuru's most precious item as it was one of the few things his father had left him.

"As Crown Prince and heir to the Snowdrop Throne, I will now hold audience with my subjects." Yuzuru announced, his voice firm and unwavering. He squared his jaw and his eyes were shining with a determination that Brian had seen form in the last year.

"Prince Yuzuru will now hear the case for the convicted pirate and murderer, captured within the Kingdom borders." Brian said, he gestured for the guards to drag the condemned forward and the bag over his head to be removed.

"Bow before the prince," Keiji hissed, forcing the man harshly to his knees in front of Yuzuru, who flinched in the pirate's stead.

"It's alright, Keiji-kun." Yuzuru said gently, standing up and shuffling to the pirate who was glaring at him with a closed off and hardened expression.

"Where are you from? Face looks different." The Prince asked quietly in English, a regal hand reaching from his oversized robe sleeve to touch the prisoner's face. His fingers ghosted over the chiseled lines and scruff, Yuzuru's head tilting curiously to the side in wonderment of the prisoner's features.

"The land of Spain." The Spaniard answered, confused and unsure of the Prince touching his face so gingerly.

"Name?" Yuzuru's fingers halted against the Spanish man's cheek, his eyes serene and void of malice.

"Javier Fernandez." He said loudly and clearly for all to hear, from the side of his eye he could see the Prince's keeper jerk slightly, his face torn between being stricken and confused.

"Javier Fernandez," Yuzuru tried to say, he scrunched his nose at his own attempt and shook his head with a sigh. Javier felt his eyes soften as the prince shot him an embarrassed grin, seemingly apologetic for saying his name oddly.

This boy, Javier wasn't quite sure whether or not to call him a man, was entirely something else. From the moment he laid eyes upon the fair prince, he was taken aback by his frail and sickly appearance. Yet, his black eyes glimmered with a youthful ambition Javier hadn't seen in his line work.

It made sense though, as Javier mostly dealt with other sly pirates like himself or forlorn ship crews that he had stolen from and killed.

He had never come into contact with the royalty of the Orient countries, but for some reason he thought that Prince Hanyu was still one of a kind in that aspect as well. For his kingdom was marveled for it's ability to rise from the ashes and soot of war to a bustling hub of industry in just three years.

"Prince Hanyu-sama, may I speak with you for a moment?" Brian stepped in between them, a glimmer of recognition being shared between Fernandez and Orser.

"Of course," Yuzuru turned to Javier and bowed sheepishly before following his advisor into a side room. The Spaniard looked around while flexing the bonds around his arms, extremely confused as to what was happening and what his fate would be. He was assuming that the Prince was going to sentence him to hang even though none of the crimes he had committed were within the Ice Kingdom's jurisdiction.

"I suggest you stare straight ahead." Daisuke warned, his drawn Katana a centimeter away from Javier's juggular.

~

"What is it Brian?" Yuzuru asked once he and his advisor were in the small council room.

"You need to grant Javier a stay of execution. I'm not in the place right now to explain why, but I have a feeling about him." Brian explained with a troubled expression that made Yuzuru extremely nervous since his advisor was never anxious, or at least didn't show it.

"There no time, I have to talk to council to do that." The prince worried his lip between his teeth while he thought about what he could do to prevent Javier's execution.

"Yuzu, you're the prince, they will listen to you whether they like it or not. Please just do this as a favor for me, I will handle all of the fallout." The prince looked down, conflicted emotions running through his body wildly. On one hand he wanted to do what the council believed was good for his kingdom; capturing and executing a universally infamous criminal would be a show of strength that his dominion greatly needed...Yet Brian had guided and shielded him from the many horrible things that could've killed him or severely debilitated his kingdom. Yuzuru had no reason to believe that his advisor would steer him wrong on this issue.

"Okay, I have plan." The prince said, a mischievious glint in his dark eyes.

"Thank you, Yuzuru. I promise you will not regret this." Yuzuru cocked his head to the side and smiled to his advisor, his eyes crinkling into crescents.

"Even if it go bad, Brian help me so much I will never regret choice to help." Brian ruffled the prince's hair, his own smile reaching his eyes and his heart was in admiration for the young man before him.

"Okay, ready to go back out there?" The snow prince jerked his head in a strong nod. He schooled his expression into one of strength and focus as he knew that the council would pick him apart if they saw any sign of wavering or weakness.

"Let's go." Brian smiled and opened the door for his prince.

~

Javier stiffened as the exotic ice prince entered back into the throne room, his expression stoney and fierce, as if daring anyone to cross him. The Spaniard gulped, readying himself for the obvious declaration of his death sentence.

Prince Hanyu stood before the Spanish man, fiery eyes peering down at him as if he were contemplating Javier's very existence. The prince leaned down and placed his hands on Javier's shoulder, pulling him up to his feet and placing his smooth hands on the Spaniard's stubbled cheeks.

"Javier Fernandez will not be executed today." The prince announced to the room. There was an immediate flurry of movement from the councilmen that sat closest to the front.

"Prince Hanyu-sama, you know very well that you cannot spare this man without consulting us!" The oldest of the twelve men sputtered indignantly, nearly jumping to his feet but was stopped by the other councilmen.

"That is why I am declaring him as a candidate to be my knight." Javier wasn't quite sure what exactly had happened, but from the arrogant smirk on Prince Hanyu's face and the deafening silence that greeted his words, he was sure it wasn't good.


	3. Afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prince Yuzuru deals with the fallout of his decision while Brian confronts Javier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading! I thought I should address something since it might make this story a bit confusing to read but Yuzu pretty much speaks primarily Japanese to everyone in the story except for Javier and Brian, which is why he speaks very choppily when he's addressing them. I noticed while writing other chapters that I'm not very good at indicating that within in the story T^T my apologies.

In the midst of the ensuing chaos that Prince Hanyu's words had caused, which Javier didn't understand as they were in Japanese, the Spaniard had been dragged away from the throne room and was tossed none too gently into his freezing cell. He covered himself with the meager blanket and awaited his execution.

He didn't wait long as the Prince's keeper made his presence known after an hour of Javier fiddling with his thumbs and poking holes in the blanket.

"Javier, I brought you a coat." The prince's keeper handed him a coat that was much like the one Prince Hanyu had been wearing, albeit a lot less ornate and messily stitched.

"Thank you," Javier mumbled in his own language, earning him a weary half smile from the keeper.

"My name is Brian Orser, do you remember me?" Brian said slowly, his eyes searching the Spanish man's face. What he was looking for, Javier had no clue.   
instead, he elected to slip the coat on as he was starting to shiver.

"It sounds familiar." Javier grunted, he wanted to lie and get this man out of his hair, but he couldn't deny the fact that seeing Brian's face had triggered something in the back of his head. It was like an incessant buzzing, an echo from a life he no longer had the right to live. Memories he had long willed away in favor of plundering and killing for a living.

"Seven years ago, I was to be murdered in the Palace of Madrid. It was to be a declaration of war between the kingdom of Madrid and the Kingdom of Canada, but my proposed killer was just a thirteen year old boy." Brian recalled as if it were a long lost memory from the past instead of nearly a decade ago.

"That thirteen year old boy helped me escape with the promise that I would not breath a word to my kingdom of what had happened that night. Keeping both countries from decimating each other in war, he was a very noble boy." Javier glared, wanting to quiet the older man from recalling something he had long since buried.

"Unfortunately, that noble boy had been caught helping the enemy and was casted out into the sea to die by his own family, branded a traitor and stripped of his claim to the Throne of Madrid. That was the last I heard of that child, until now." The Spaniard crossed his arms petulantly, angry that Brian had dared talk to him about this. Even though Javier had been thrown away by his family and lost his place as first in line to the throne only seven years ago, the wounds were still very much fresh.

"You have the gall to bring this all up when I'm about to die at the hands of your prince." Javier spat but was caught off guard by the amused grin Brian shot him.

"I forgot that you may have not understood what Prince Hanyu was saying. My apologies," he dipped his head, the grin never leaving his face despite his words.

"The custom in this kingdom is peculiar, I will admit." Brian began, "On the eve of the ruler's seventeenth birthday, he must pick his champion, his knight to protect and serve him until he dies." Javier's brown eyes widened as he took in Brian's words.

"So I'm not being executed?" Brian shook his head.

"No, however, I still need to work out the details with Yuzuru. He may set you free or have you killed if you refuse to be his knight." The older man shrugged nonchalantly.

"Are you serious? I have to agree to protect that child or else I'm going to be executed?!" Javier stood up, wrapping his hands around the bars of his cell in anger.

"Calm down, Prince Hanyu is only three years your junior and you will show him the same respect he had shown you by sparing your life." Brian reprimanded, his voice calm but his eyes were portrayed his no-nonsense attitude when it came to protecting the prince's honor.

"And like I said before, this is all up to him so I suggest you show him that you are grateful. He is a kind man, please do not take that for granted Javier." The older man left him with those words swirling inside of his head, they buzzed around him like annoying flies.

He sighed while wondering when the servants were going to bring him his next meal since he couldn't deny how hungry he was once the fear of being killed had passed him.

~

It couldn't be helped, Yuzuru thought as he hid in his chambers. The elders looked extremely angry with him and the prince was in no mood to defend his life choices. It was quite annoying to him, really. He paced for a long while, wringing his hands together anxiously before deciding to distract himself, which led him to emptying his bookcase and reading his books before ultimately tossing them to the side once he got bored of them. He groaned, running his hands through his short black hair before laying down on his futon in the midst of the books.

"Yuzuru." The prince tensed up but exhaled in relief when he realized it was just Shoma, scratching at his door like a lonely puppy.

"Come in," Yuzuru called out from his place on the futon, books strewn around him in a fruitless effort to tune everything around him out.

"It's locked." Shoma called back, his voice bordering on irritated now. The prince chuckled to himself before getting up and unlocking the door, immediately enveloping Shoma in a hug. Shoma squeaked in surprise but let himself be swept up in the prince's arms. He sighed quietly and enjoyed Yuzuru's relaxing and soft scent, it was somehow flowery despite the fact that very little plants grew in their frozen kingdom.

"Did you hear about what I did today?" Yuzuru asked quietly, his face anxious but his voice was neutral.

"You made the murderer your vassal." Shoma said, his face neither approving nor reproachful. It unnerved Yuzuru but the prince merely shifted from foot to foot.

"Yes, I made the murderer my candidate," he couldn't help but flinch at the sting of those words.

"I talked with the councilmen and they said that I was going against tradition. They said I was making a mockery of my father by deciding on someone like him." Yuzuru bit out, obviously flustered and displeased.

"Keiji is disappointed as well. He was sure you would make him your vassal." Shoma said, the edge in his words made Yuzuru huff.

"Not you too..." The prince groaned, "I thought it was clear that I passed on Keiji because he is more of a better match as your knight than mine."

"I am not a part of the Hanyu royal family, as such I do not have the privilege to a knight." The young teenager deadpanned.

"For all intents and purposes, you are Shoma Uno Hanyu to me. If anything were to happen to me, I would want you to become the prince or even the king." Shoma was taken aback by Yuzuru's intense proclamation, his face vulnerable and eyes misty.

"Please trust in me that I am making a good decision, okay Shoma?" The young teenager bit his lip in conflicted thought before he bowed his head.

"I never lost trust in you in the first place, Yuzuru." These words made the prince light up, his smile so wide that it showcased his dimples.

"Thank you." Yuzuru said, pinching Shoma's cheeks and chuckling to himself when the teenager pawed his hand away.

"Sorry to disturb you two," both teenagers turned to the door and saw Nobunari standing in the doorway, his katana firmly strapped to his side.

"Oh Nobu, I'm sorry I didn't hear you!" Yuzuru bowed and patted Shoma's cheeks in farewell.

"It's alright Yuzu, Brian sent me up here to take you to Fernandez." Yuzuru was relieved to hear that Nobu wasn't angry with him, as he had nominated himself to Yuzuru for his knight. Granted, Yuzuru was sure that Nobu knew he wasn't exactly his first pick nor the councils, unlike Keiji. Unlike the rest of the guards, Nobu had a wife and little children that he had to take care of and Yuzuru couldn't bare to take Nobu away from his family. Yuzuru freely admitted to his selfishness, but he wasn't as selfish as to ask Nobu of the impossible.

"Thank you Nobu. I will see you in a while, Shoma." The prince called to Shoma and left with Nobu, the prince tittering his guard's ear off about random things. Nobu nodded and added in his own comments everyonce in a while until their voices could barely be heard.

Shoma sighed, waiting a moment before he reached into his yukata and pulled out a sheathed dagger. He frowned at it deeply before replacing it back into his robe, his young face set in morbid determination.

'Yuzuru has protected me for years, it's time for me to do the same,' Shoma thought and left the room, following Nobu and his prince closely but far enough that he didn't rouse suspicion.


	4. Evening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I don't think they're going to be any updates in the coming week. Apologies for such a short chapter guys!

"You're not angry with me?" Yuzuru asked his guard, feeling very much like a scolded child. Nobu giggled and shook his head which made the prince feel a hundred times better about his decision.

"You're my prince, I have no right to be angry with you. You may do things that I don't approve of sometimes, like skating on the ice ponds during spring, but I pledged my life to you the day you were born. Something like this isn't going to change that." Nobu said, turning to his prince and hugging him close before continuing on their journey to the cells which were below the palace.

"What do you see in this man, though? Not judging, but I'm curious." Yuzuru hummed in thought, his head tilted to the side as he contemplated the question.

"Brian asked me to pardon him, but there's something about him. Very noble." The guard snorted, but it wasn't unkind.

"A murderer is noble?" He asked, though Yuzuru could tell that the guard wanted to understand his reasoning instead of judge him.

"I think, if given the choice, he could be a very noble man. Besides, everyone deserves a second chance." Nobu smiled and ruffled the prince's hair.

"Who knew our prince was so kind hearted!" The older man reached over and pinched Yuzuru's round cheek. Unlike Shoma, Yuzuru basked in the attention and smiled warmly.

"Okay, time to look like that strong prince from the throne room." Nobu teased as he opened the jail doors for Yuzuru. The prince took his advice and took in a deep breath before putting on what Keiji, Nobu, and Ryuju joked as his 'Prince Face'.

"Crown Prince of the Ice Kingdom and rightful heir to the Snowdrop Throne, Prince Hanyu Yuzuru." Nobu called out, pulling a silly face as he did so which nearly made Yuzuru's princely facade fall apart from barely restrained laughter.

They entered into the jail, the prisoners bowed their heads respectfully as their prince passed. Yuzuru dipped his head gracefully to them, kindly greeting them silently.

Nobu directed the prince to a door that led him to where the high-security prisoner was being held. Yuzuru frowned at the cells, straw lined the floor and it smelled terribly. He thought no one, no matter how horrible their crime, deserved to live in such a disgusting place. He shook his head and continued on behind Nobu as he took him to the pirate, he decided to talk to the elders once everything was all said and done with Fernandez

"Javier Fernandez," Yuzuru said, scrunching his nose once more. Javier looked up to the Prince who was regarding him thoughtfully. The pirate dipped his head in a half hearted attempt at a bow, showing the barest hint of respect for the Japanese prince.

"Your name too hard to say. I call you Javi for now on." The prince grinned, as if he had come up with something extremely clever and was entirely satisfied with himself.

"I talk with Knight now," Yuzuru turned to Nobu and sent him a meaningful look. The older Japanese man sputtered and shook his head, saying something in their language that Javier didn't bother understanding.

"Nobu, you go now. I talk to Knight alone." The man, Nobu, Javier reminded himself, sent the Spaniard a scathing glare as if he was daring him to do anything to the prince while he was not in their presence.

"I'll wait outside then." Nobu bowed dutifully and sent another death glare to the pirate, then excused himself to wait right outside the door.

"Sorry, my English not very good." Yuzuru said sheepishly, a hand coming up to smooth the hair on the back of his head. Javier watched him, wondering how far he could go if he punched the prince in the face before making a break for it. He was sure that the guard outside the door would run him through the second he saw him so he quickly dismissed the thought.

Although, the thought made him feel a little guilty. He remembered the words Brian had told him, this boy had spared his life despite everyone overwhelmingly wishing for his death.

The prince was also very warm, like a small fire warming him in a blizzard. Javier wondered if this was some kind of spell the prince had casted over him since he had never had a second thought about hurting someone to escape.

Yuzuru cleared his throat, he hugged himself which made him look very much like the awkward teenager that he really was. It endeared him to Javier, much to the older man's chagrin.

"Brian tell you, you will be my knight, yes?" Javier nodded, unsure of how to properly ask what the duties of a knight entailed exactly.

"Yes, but I'm not sure why you want me for something like that." The pirate huffed, peering at the prince through the nearly frozen cell bars. Yuzuru waited for a moment, his face scrunched up in concentration as he took in and decoded Javier's words.

"Brian tell me you save him long time ago. It favor to him for me to keep you from execution, I still want you as knight too." The prince said, producing a key from his sleeve and opening the cell door before slipping inside and plopping himself down beside the murderer.

"I have to say yes or else you'll have me killed?" Yuzuru's eyes widened and he shook his head wildly.

"No, no! If Javi says no then Brian help you escape but it take long time and no promise of no execution. If Javi says yes then maybe it take less time to escape kingdom." The ice prince explained, keeping his inner selfish reason inside. Truthfully, he wished to do Brian a favor as way to pay him back for all of the older man's sacrifice and wisdom, yet another reason was that Yuzuru wished to learn about the world outside of his frozen kingdom.

He loved his kingdom dearly, but he was saddened by the fact that it was the only thing he had known in his nearly seventeen years of being alive. He thought that through Javier, he may learn some new things about the world via the Spanish man's extensive travels.

"You're willing to put shame upon yourself to help someone like me out?" Javier asked curiously, Yuzuru peered at Javier, his black eyes so resolute that it shook Javier to his very core.

"Yes, for Javi and Brian." The thought had crossed the young prince's mind more times than he could count. All of his life, he had been taught to avoid bringing shame upon his name no matter what, but this was a small price to pay. Besides, without Brian there would be no honor to Yuzuru's name as the young prince was convinced that without the Canadian by his side he would most certainly be dead.

"Fine, I'll be your knight." Javier agreed, an inkling of a smile coming to his face as Yuzuru's own face brightened like a sun peering past a cloud.

"Okay, I tell Brian!" Yuzuru scrambled to stand up and brush the dirt off of his ornate robe.

"I will come and see Javi soon!" Javier nodded and watched as the young prince practically flounced away, a new pep in his step compared to how he first came in.

Javier sighed, wondering what in the hell he had just agreed to. He wasn't too keen on becoming a human shield for a ditzy teenager, besides he had made a living for himself by being a ruthless and murderous pirate. He didn't care for the 'honor' and 'glory' of being a weaponized babysitter for this teenager, especially in such a kingdom with horrible weather that made him yearn for the warm breeze of his native Spain. The thought of the crisp sea air, salty and refreshing, nearly drove him crazy as he inhaled the frigid and stinging winter wind.

He settled himself down on the small sleeping mat, watching the snow flurries drift from the cell window and down to the floor, melting on contact. Eventually he fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming of the sea and his long gone ship. How he missed it, the spine-tingling feeling of explicit freedom more than made up for the cramped space and occasional sea battle. He would endure every scar, every cut, and every nick that painted his body if it meant one last time at sea.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to sleep for long as he was jolted awake by something sharp pressing against his skin. He immediately identified it as something metallic and without hesitation, switched on to attack mode.

"Who're you?" He exclaimed, kicking his teenage attacker in the chest which made the young Japanese man slam his back against the wall painfully, hearing the audible wheeze as the air was knocked out of him. However, he didn't stay down for long.

"You will not hurt Yuzuru!" The teenager growled and came at Javier again, the dagger raised and ready. Javier wasted no time; he grabbed the teenager's arm and twisted it behind his back none too gently. The teenager dropped the dagger, slamming his eyes shut as it clattered onto the stone floor and whimpered as he awaited for something far more grievous than just a sore arm. 

"Give me one good reason to not break your arm right now," Javier snarled, increasing the pressure on the teen's arm immensely. The teen, for his part, simply opened his black eyes and glared, trying his absolute best to wiggle out of the pirate's grasp.

"That is enough!" The Spaniard immediately dropped the teenager and raised his hands, he didn't want to be killed for something that wasn't even his fault. The teenager dropped to the ground and tried to hide the dagger under Javier's bed mat, but the guard was too quick and grabbed him by the wrist to stop him.

"What are you doing, Shoma?" The teenager winced at the harsh tone, his eyes roving around the small cell as if looking for an excuse to pop out at him.

"I'm trying to protect Yuzuru, Nobu!" The teenager said in his language, his expression cowed and embarrassed despite his passionate tone. The guard sighed and yanked the dagger out of the teen's hands before sliding it into his belt, then he practically tossed the teenager out of the cell as if he were just a small animal instead of a teenager. The teen fell against the bars of the opposite cell, his face burning in injured pride and his body stiff with barely restrained anger.

"Go to your chambers, I will have a word with you after I'm finished with him." Shoma nodded, his eyes downcast with a hint of incoming tears. He quickly scurried out of the jail with his proverbial tail between his legs, refusing to look back.

"Get up," the guard turned to Javier and commanded. The Spanish man did as he was told and let the guard bond his arms together with rope before leading him out of the jail and to the upper levels of the palace.


	5. Midnight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's technically the end of the week, right?
> 
> Also, I think I might need to change my word processor...When I write chapters, they look really long but when I put them on Ao3, they are soooo short.

It was nice, Javier thought, as he passed through the grand hallways of the ice palace. It wasn't exactly as grandiose as the Madrid Palace he had once called home when he was just a young child, but it wasn't exactly plain either. It was comfortable despite the chilly atmosphere, the cold biting at his nose which was steadily turning ruddier as he breathed, tinging his cheeks pink in the process.

What was even nicer was that he was able to walk instead of being dragged everywhere like a sack of potatoes. He would never take his legs for granted ever again, he thought with a snort.

"Where are we going?" He asked, a little perturbed by the fact that he could see his breath puff out in front of him in a cloud of nearly translucent vapor. It wouldn't have bothered him normally, but they were currently indoors and that was a somewhat difficult fact to ignore. Besides, Javier hailed from the land of sun, heat, and salty ocean. Needless to say, he was completely unused to the freezing temperatures of Yuzuru's snow capped land.

"Quiet, prisoner." Javier rolled his eyes in annoyance. While the temperature outside was freezing, the guards in this palace were even chillier in attitude.

Finally after what felt like forever, Javier was deposited into a room that was marginally nicer than his dinky cell. He nearly cried at the sight of the western style bed with fluffy pillows and a warm looking duvet settled invitingly on the cushy mattress. The only thing that could complete the picture was a glass of sangria or a bottle of rum, preferably both.

Wasting no time, Javier threw himself onto the bed and sighed in happiness. He couldn't remember the last time he had even seen a bed that looked as comfy as the one he was laying on. He decided to make it a point to thank Yuzuru for doing this for him, since he was sure that sleeping mats where the usual type of bed for people in this part of the world and it might have been a hassle to retrieve something like this.

However, before he could get too comfortable, Javier heard a knock at his door and Brian poking his head in.

"May I speak with you?" Javier nodded, sure that Brian wouldn't take no for an answer anyway. Plus, this worked out for him as well since he wanted to ask Brian several questions that were burning at the forefront of his mind.

"I'm pleased that you're enjoying your room. Once you are named Yuzuru's knight you will be moved to one that is not so modest." Brian said, an apologetic smile on his thin lips. Javier snorted, wondering how the other rooms must look if this one was considered 'modest' by any standards.

"Thank you, please pass on my thanks to the Prince." The adviser nodded.

"Of course, he was especially keen on knowing when you would be transferred to your room." The older man laughed fondly, Javier could see how deeply he cared for the Japanese ruler. He was minutely jealous of that fondness though he refused to admit it. The Spanish man couldn't help but think of how different his life would have ended up if he had had someone to advocate for him like Brian did for Yuzuru. 

Maybe he could've became the great ruler that he had once believed he was destined to become.

"I'm touched by his concern for someone like me." It was the truth, both Brian and Javier couldn't deny it.

"Yuzuru's type of kindness is very hard to come by nowadays." Brian said sagely before clapping his hands together purposefully and sitting himself down beside Javier.

"I know it is late, but I feel it is only right to answer your questions about Yuzuru's request." Javier perked up, excited to finally have the answers to his questions.

"First off, what is the purpose of being Yuzuru's knight? Doesn't he already have a royal guard?" The adviser nodded.

"The Knight is very different from the armed guard that accompany Yuzuru during his appearances around the kingdom. The Knight is the job of one person and one person only, whereas the guards can be changed routinely depending on their performance. As a Knight, you can only be replaced if you die." Javier gulped and let Brian's words sink in.

"Why is this so important if I'm just becoming a glorified guard?" The Canadian chuckled at him before answering.

"It is very important because you are basically entering into a life long pact to protect Yuzuru. If he dies, you die as well. You live for him and only him, even after you die, you must protect him in the afterlife. It's pretty serious for Yuzuru and his people." The Spaniard nearly groaned, he felt like it was somewhat of a dirty trick of Brian's to let Javier enter into this pact without letting him know what it all entailed, but murderer or not, Javier was a man of his word. He was going to be Yuzuru's knight until the prince relinquished his hold on him.

"And Yuzuru is willingly entering into this pact with me with the intention to let me escape somewhere down the line?" Brian nodded, despite his calm expression, Javier could tell that he was troubled by this turn in the conversation.

"He's putting a lot on the line for you, his reputation and even his afterlife." Javier bit his lip, his mind racing. This was all too much, he thought frantically. He felt as if he had entered into a tempest unknowingly, unsure of whether or not the beautiful snow prince was the tempest itself or an island he was supposed to swim to for reprieve from the bitter winds and consuming tides.

It was all so confusing, but Javier decided that the best course of action was to go along with what the prince had planned. Or else he ran the risk of being executed and that was the last thing he wanted.

"I'm grateful." Javier finally said, "Is there going to be a ceremony or...?"

"Well, that was something I needed to speak to you about." Brian began gingerly, "the council is unwavering in their decision to have one of Yuzuru's guards as his knight and Yuzu is just as firm in his decision to nominate you."

"And this means?" Javier prodded, his stomach churning for this sudden revelation.

"The council wish for both you and Keiji to battle over who becomes Yuzuru's knight in two weeks. During these two weeks you will be allowed to train as much as needed." The Spaniard groaned in annoyance and slapped a hand over his face. He wasn't quite sure if his escape was worth all of this trouble.

"Okay, so what happens if I lose?" Brian stood up and straightened his robes, turning to Javier with a cheerful grin.

"Keiji-kun is instructed to kill you, so if you want your life I suggest you win. Goodnight." Javier stared after the older man with a dumbfounded expression as he bowed and quickly left. He rolled over and buried his face into the soft pillow, his mind racing.

Maybe he could take this opportunity to escape? Although he was sure that the guards would kill him on sight if he tried it. Well, Javier thought with a glum scowl, I guess the only thing I can do is win.

~

"In what way did you think that was a good idea?!" Nobu scolded, a withering glare directed at the Japanese teenager. Shoma ducked his head, avoiding eye contact with the angry guard. He glared holes into the floor while his cheeks were dusted red in embarrassment. He hadn't been lectured like this since he was just a child for doing something unfitting of a noble.

"Answer me Shoma! You could have gotten yourself killed by that man!" Nobu grabbed the boy his the shoulders and shook him, Shoma reluctantly met his eyes. He was surprised to see how concerned Nobu was for his well being, for his eyes held no anger but fear. A deep fear that he might have almost lost the young boy due to his own stupidity.

"I wanted to protect him." The older man softened and hugged Shoma to him tightly, the teenager squirmed in his arms but eventually let himself be hugged by the affectionate guard.

"We all do, Shoma. Leave that job to us, okay?" Shoma nodded against him. He sniffled and rubbed at his eyes roughly, willing himself to not cry as he, too, was scared of being murdered in the cell.

"I won't tell Yuzu about this, alright? I'm sure he would be extremely angry if he did know." Shoma opened his mouth to thank him but was immediately cut off by Nobu's glare.

"However, you will not go anywhere near Javier Fernandez. You proved to me that you cannot be trusted around him and you know the consequences of murder in the kingdom. I refuse to have you executed, Shoma." The teenager dipped his head solemnly.

"I'm sorry, Nobu-san." Nobu let the boy go and sighed before patting Shoma on his shoulder, his touch firm and comforting. Yet, deep inside, Shoma wanted none of those things from Nobu. The person who wanted comfort from was currently fawning over a good for nothing murderer. How cruel and unfair, the teenager thought with a stab of repressed anger

"It's okay. Go to bed it's getting late and you have chores to do tomorrow." Shoma groaned but nodded anyway. He bowed to Nobu as the older man excused himself and left Shoma's bedroom, leaving the boy to get ready for bed.

Once Shoma had settled himself into bed, he couldn't help that urge to get up and make his way to Yuzuru's room and sleep in his bed. He ached for the comfort of having the older teenager sleep beside him, warm and alive. He missed watching Yuzuru's thin chest raise and descend slowly, his mouth agape to sigh every once in a while, sometimes to snore.

Shoma closed his eyes and tried his best to sleep, but he kept dreaming of the pirate, standing over him with his strong and calloused hands restricting his breathing until the noble jerked awake in a cold sweat.


	6. Royal Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it weird that I have like my own playlist to listen to when I'm typing up chapters? Like it's mostly just the Yoshida brothers and the music from Yuzu's programs lol.

Javier awoke to the sound of languid knocks against his door and a ray of sun in his eyes. He sat up, groggy and disoriented, before widening his eyes in shock as he remembered the day prior.

It had originally started with the fear of death, as he was sure he was to be hanged for his crimes. Yet, the kind prince of this kingdom had spared him for the reason that Javier was to be his knight. Oh god, Javier thought to himself, his eyes slamming shut and his stomach clenching in nausea.

"Breakfast," a servant bustled into the room, a silver plate balanced precariously in his arms along with a carafe of some unknown liquid. Javier stretched but refrained from getting up as it was his habit to sleep in the nude and he didn't want to scar the poor boy.

The servant bowed, mumbled something in his language and left the room quietly. Javier watched him go, amused by the no-nonsense attitude of the servants while the prince was decidedly more silly and down-to-earth despite being royalty.

Javier crawled out of bed and tied the sheet around his waist before advancing on the delicious looking meal the servant had brought him. He went straight for the most recognizable items on the platter; grilled fish and white rice. To say he devoured the fish was an understatement as he practically inhaled it. Then he started on the small bowl of soup, he dipped a chopstick into the concotion and tasted it just to be sure it was something he would like. The broth made his mouth water and the small bits of seaweed were salted to perfection, but Javier's only complaint were the white cubes floating within the broth. He poked it curiously and spooned it into his mouth, immediately spitting it out as it was too slimy for his taste.

"Good morning Javier," Brian greeted as he opened the bedroom door, but he was quickly pushed aside by a flailing Yuzuru.

"Good morning Javi!" Yuzuru said, his face bright and void of any traces of sleep.

"Good morning Yuzuru, Brian." Javier turned to greet the prince and his adviser but was meet with a wide-eyed Yuzuru with a bundle of what the Spaniard presumed were clothes clutched within his arms.

"Eto," the prince coughed, his cheeks ruddy and his eyes averted. Javier shrugged, unsure of what made the prince change his behavior so suddenly. Brian, for his part, looked extremely amused by the scene before him.

"Clothes," Yuzuru muttered in his language, pressing the bundle of clothes against Javier's exposed chest and quickly hiding behind Brian.

"Thank you," Javier snorted, finally realizing the reason for Yuzuru's embarrassment.

"I see you later at training rink." Yuzuru blurted out and scampered into the hallway holding his blushing cheeks.

"Ryuju and Daisuke will come and take you to the training rink, meanwhile please get dressed." Brian instructed with a light grin and took his leave with an uncharacteristically quiet Yuzuru in toe, his face buried in his hands but a smile quite evident on his face.

Javier shook his head and poured himself a cup of whatever was in the carafe, taking a sip before spitting it back into the cup with a scowl. The earthy flavor of what Javier presumed was tea made him nearly gag in disgust, it reminded him of crushed up grass and tree roots. He replaced the carafe onto the platter and went about his business of getting ready with the clothes Yuzuru had brought for him. After fifteen minutes of Javier inspecting his room, Daisuke and Ryuju made their presence known.

"Time to go?" Javier asked, holding his wrists out before him instinctively so that the guards could bind them together. Both men smiled at him crookedly before shaking their heads and ushering the Spaniard out of the door. Although the pirate was grateful for not being bonded by the scratchy rope, he noticed how stiff the guards were and the ever present hands on the hilt of their katanas just in case.

The walk to the training rink was quiet and filled with unspoken tension, it burned between Javier and the guards. He knew that any perceived false move would most likely end with him skewered on their sharp swords, so he kept his eyes looking forward and his hands hanging limply at his sides.

Once they were in the rink (which was a welcomed respite from the blistering wind outside the training rink), the younger of the two handed him the rapier that had been ripped away from him when he was taken into custody. He held it reverently in his hands, feeling as if he had just been reunited with an old friend. The weight of it in his palm was familiar and offered a special kind of comfort that Javier didn't realize he had missed.

"Ready?" The younger of the two guards asked, unsheathing his katana in one fluid motion. Javier sighed and removed his rapier from its resting place then tossed the sheath onto the ground, cringing at the clanging noise it produced.

"Ready." Javier echoed, his sword positioned in front of him in anticipation for Ryuju's attack.

The younger man wasted no time, immediately rushing towards the Spaniard and raising the slim sword above his head and bringing it down in a striking motion that Javier easily evaded. Ryuju recovered quickly and side stepped the Spaniard's attempt to half-heartedly stab him, then he feinted to Javier's left and tried to slice his abdomen.

Javier laughed, while Ryuju was quick on his feet, the boy had neither the stamina nor the patience to beat the Spanish man and it was apparent that this was irritating Ryuju, who doubled the strength and speed in his attacks which further tired him out.

"Stop running!" Ryuju bit out, heavily breathing and his steps sluggish. Javier paid him no mind, side stepping the boy and fending off the sword with light taps of his own until the Spanish man decide to stop playing with boy.

Without skipping a beat, Javier stilled in front of Ryuju for a second too late which resulted in their swords clashing together in a loud clang. While the younger man was focused on overpowering Javier with his katana, the Spaniard simply kicked Ryuju's foot harshly, unbalancing his stance and sending him toppling over with the tip of Javier's rapier pointing between his eyes.

"Dead." The Spanish man said cheerily. Ryuju glared at him, his eyebrows furrowing together in deep seated annoyance. He waited for Javier to draw his rapier away before sitting up, gathering his katana and sulking to Daisuke's side. Daisuke, for his part, patted the younger guard on the back before taking his place as Javier's sparing partner.

They stood several feet apart, simply eyeing each other before tentatively bowing and bringing their swords before them. Javier grinned, this was more his way of training as it was more akin to an actual duel rather than some sloppy and amateur practice round.

Daisuke was the first to make his move, much like Ryuju, he ran forward and swung the sword slightly above his head. However, instead of swinging, he dodged to the side and swiped at Javier's arm.

The pirate was barely able to dodge it with a quick block with his rapier, which sent him stumbling back several steps and opening him up to a more powerful attack. Very much like the seasoned guard he was, Daisuke took that opportunity and lunged forward, his shoulder colliding with Javier's side painfully and his katana poking through the gap between the pirate's arm and his body.

Javier fell hard against the ground, the wind essentially knocked out of him as he narrowed his eyes, the burn of humiliation tingling on his face and the back of his throat.

"Rule number one; never underestimate opponent." Daisuke muttered to him, helping the Spanish man up to his feet and brushing dirt from Javier's arm.

"Try again." The older guard commanded, readying his weapon once again. Javier cracked his neck and with a huff, he engaged Daisuke once more in mock battle.

~

Javier's arms were burning, his sides were smarting with pain, and his legs felt like the flan his mother use to make. He noticed with an amused smirk that Ryuju looked to be in the same state; the younger man's face was beet red with exertion and he barely could hold up his weapon, waving it weakly in front of him as Javier just as weakly attempted to strike it. Bruises were also beginning to bloom on his arms and his face (Javier had punched him in a more passionate bout of sparing, but Javier had also been bitten by the younger man in return).

"Break." Daisuke clapped his hands together, both men groaning in relief as they sagged to the ground.

"Don't pull the hair next time, Ryuju." Daisuke reprimanded in their shared language before rounding on Javier.

"Work on making stance more fluid. Less like mountain, more like snake. Mountain not acceptable, snake harder to catch." Javier laughed but nodded, already knowing about this problem of his. It was a product of fighting at sea, where one wrong step could send him overboard in especially raucous battles.

"Excuse me Daisuke," an older woman came upon them, her face so severe that Javier hoped he wouldn't have to fight her too. However, he couldn't be as afraid as the boy trailing behind her. After a closer look at the shamefaced teenager, the Spaniard noticed it was the same boy from before in the cell.

"Is there something wrong, Mihoko-san?" Daisuke turned to her with a kind smile. Instead of returning the smile, she grabbed the youth's wrist and dragged him over to where Javier had spread out on the ground.

He quickly stood and bowed to the woman, a little nervous as to what she could do to him if he disrespected her in anyway.

"Apologize." She said simply, pushing the young boy forward and glared at him.

"I am sorry." Shoma spat in English, eyes filled with distaste and loathing Javier couldn't help but feel was unwarranted.

"For what?" Javier challenged, enjoying the flash of anger in the teen's eyes.

"Sorry trying to kill you..." The teenager gritted out. Javier ruffled the teenager's hair with a grin, reveling in the annoyed aura Shoma was admitting at being touched by someone he apparently disliked immensely.

"I forgive you." Javier said, increasing the pressure of his hand on Shoma's head. The two men parted ways immediately after, completely oblivious to the two pairs of eyes watching them; one with concern and the other gleefully and unaware of the tense atmosphere between the Spaniard and the teen.

"Shoma and Javi becoming good friends!" Yuzuru clapped his hands together, smiling brightly at his adviser.

"Um, yes I suppose you can say that." Brian said sheepishly before ushering his charge into the stands to watch his knight train.

It wasn't long after Shoma had left the rink with Mihoko that Brian excused himself with the intent to talk to her about Shoma and Javier's obvious dislike of each other, which left Yuzuru to watch his knight.

"Javi! Javi! Over here!" He yelped, waving a blue cloth at the Spanish man in an exaggerated fashion in order to get his attention.

Javier turned to Daisuke and received a small nod in permission to momentarily pause training. The Spanish man walked over to where the prince was leaning over the railing in the stands, his lanky body practically about to topple into the rink.

"What is it, Prince Yuzuru?" Yuzuru huffed and shook his head.

"You my knight, call me Yuzu." Javier nodded and tried again.

"What is it, Yuzu?" The prince beamed at him before producing the blue handkerchief from behind his back, his smile genuine and excited.

"Brian said in Europe, royalty give token of thanks to knights." He gestured to the cloth and urged Javier to climb the railings, which the Spaniard did after a burst of laughter.

Once they were on level ground, Yuzuru stood on the tips of his toes to tie the cloth around his knight's neck. He hummed in appreciation as he admired his handiwork, Javier chuckled at him. The pirate attempted to fight down the feeling of fondness that was bubbling within his chest. It was downright idiotic, he thought to himself, he had only known the prince for only two days.

Yet, the prince had shown him the most humanity and kindness than anybody else in Javier's life in those two days. Javier could tell just from Yuzuru's mere presence that all of his actions were genuine and without malignant motive.

"Javi will tell me later about Spain, yes?" Yuzuru asked, bouncing excitedly on his heels while his eyes sparkled with anticipation.

"Okay, but later." Javier said, sensing the eyes of both Daisuke and Ryuju watching them with interest.

"Go back to training, I will see you soon." Yuzuru chirped happily before waving to Nobu who had just entered into the stands with the purpose to escort Yuzuru back into the main palace.

Javier bowed in farewell then slipped back down through the rails into the rink, ready to spar with Daisuke as Ryuju was still spread eagle on the ground.

~

After the rigorous training session with Ryuju and Daisuke, Javier had returned to his room feeling significantly more at ease. He wasn't exactly sure if it was the intense exercise after being locked away for so long, or if it was because he had gained a semblance of respect from both men, but he found it extremely easy to lay in the bed and let his mind wander away from him.

His mind drifted through many topics, ranging from whether or not he should sharpen his rapier or what dinner would consist of. However, he ended up settling upon the deep blue cloth that Yuzuru had handed to him. He turned it over in his hands, the soft fabric somehow comforting. Against his better judgment, he pressed it to his nose.

He quickly removed it, the flowery scent of Yuzuru was too much for him. It was suddenly too sweet, too 'him', just all too much. Javier tossed it on top of the end table and tried his best to relax, fighting the thoughts of a certain crescent-eyed prince.


	7. Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double upload day!  
> Sorry I haven't been as active, it's finals time and my body has picked this inconvenient time to crap out on me once again! No worries though!
> 
> Also I'm a sucker for flower meanings.

The Spaniard wasn't quite sure when it happened, or how, but he suddenly found himself in a dutiful routine which he partook in for the past two weeks. This routine consisted of waking up, eating breakfast, getting ready and then heading to the rink to train until it was time for dinner and then bed. During those training sessions, he would have a moment with his prince, simply to talk or jest with each other. It was a daily occurrence, but it varied in length on most days since Javier was sure Yuzuru had more pressing matters to attend to. Yet, he was grateful for the daily visits, whether they were five minutes long or thirty.

By now, Javier was proud to say that he was battling toe to toe with Daisuke, keeping up with the older man until Daisuke delivered the 'killing' blow or Javier did. He was also proud to say that there was now a bond of mutual respect between not only Ryuju and Daisuke, but also Nobu, who watched with rapt attention and gave him goofy grins and thumbs up.

It was a soothing feeling, to know that you weren't entirely hated by everyone. Even Brian, who was extremely protective of his charge, educated Javier during dinner of Yuzuru's likes and dislikes. Alcohol didn't sit well with the boy, he craved certain sweets, and one of his eyes remained open even after he fell asleep. The last one, Javier could only tear into his grilled fish, unsure of what to say about something so mundane yet odd.

Despite being nearly accepted by everyone in Yuzuru's close circle of guards and friends, Javier could also feel the intense glares that were thrown at him. The ugly looks made the hair on the back of his neck stand up and the hair on his arms bristle. Without even glancing back, he knew it could only be one of two people who despised him.

While Shoma had certainly made himself scarce when Javier was around Yuzuru, there were certain times in which they would briefly meet during Yuzuru's daily visits or they would bump into each other in the hallway while Javier was on his way to his room. Each meeting was laced by an underlining tension, so strong that even Yuzuru had picked up on it and had stopped bringing Shoma to the training rink soon after the first joint meet up. Javier merely brushed him off, he had proven to the boy that he was more than just an easy target and that he would seriously hurt the teenager if he absolutely had to.

Keiji, on the other hand, was more subtle in his steady dislike of Javier. He was polite in greeting with no trace of curtness or rudeness, but the passing glances the Japanese man dealt him more than enough in confirmation. The pirate had to be honest though, the self-discipline Keiji had when it came to Javier was astounding. The non-committal greetings promised a potential friendly acquaintance but the glares and smirks yearned for murder, it was quite a sight to see.

Either way, Javier had decided to let it go. Normally he wasn't afraid to confront the people who quite obviously had a problem with him, but considering these people were especially close to Yuzuru, he thought it would be better for everyone involved if he just kept his mouth shut. He chalked this plan of action up to his growing fondness for the kind prince...and also the fact that he didn't want to be murdered for any arbitrary reason such as 'he attacked a guard' or 'he attacked a defenseless teenager'. It wasn't worth it.

So, without thinking too much about it, Javier went about his daily routine until the very last day of his training before the battle was to occur. He had successfully defeated Daisuke three times in a row, leaving no room for doubt that he was winning due to skill and not a fluke. Impressed, Daisuke had ordered him to take a break, but soon after plopping down on the ground, Nobu had come to him with the news that Yuzuru would not be visiting him today, but would rather prefer for Javier to visit him after his training was done for the day. Confused, Javier agreed and after taking a moment to rest, got his feet and followed Nobu to the young prince's chambers.

"You really close to Yuzu?" Nobu asked as they walked to Yuzuru's room, Javier shrugged. He was unsure of what to exactly say; they saw each other everyday and they were obviously very friendly towards one another, but Javier wasn't sure whether or not he would classify their relationship as close.

"We're friendly." Was all Javier offered, Nobunari nodded with a dissatisfied hum but neither man said anything for the duration of the walk. Finally, they made it to the room and Nobu gestured for the Spanish man to enter.

"I wait here." Javier nodded and stepped inside after a quick knock.

Yuzuru was sitting at his wooden desk, seemingly pouring over a book with such fascination that he jumped when Javier knocked against the wall in order to alert him.

"Sorry!" He yelped, slamming the book shut and standing up from the chair.

"It's okay, Yuzu." Javier laughed, standing awkwardly by the door while Yuzuru was eyeing him just as shyly.

"How was training?" Yuzuru finally asked, gesturing for Javier to take a seat opposite of himself at the table.

"It was fine, I beat Daisuke about three times so that was great." The prince's face brightened, his smile was contagious and his eyes were happy half-moons.

"Javi is great fighter. I want you to be real knight!" The pirate could see through the flattery that Yuzuru was actually being serious about having him as the prince's knight. Suddenly, he felt unworthy. How could someone like Yuzuru want a murderer like Javier to protect him?

"Come on, you could do so much better." Javier snorted, however he was taken aback by the hurt face Yuzuru tried to hide before he shook his head.

"You are hard worker, you don't let Daisuke or Ryuju talk bad to you. I trust you." The Spanish man bit his lip and shook his head.

"How can you be so sure of that?" Yuzuru took a moment to think the question over before answering quite simply, "Javi is good person."

"Did you forget that I'm wanted for murder and stealing?" He asked, disbelieving in Yuzuru's answer in spite of how sweet it was.

"You save Brian, that all I need to know." The prince shrugged, his fingers rubbing against the spine of the book absentmindedly.

"Did Brian tell you how I saved him? How long ago it was?" Yuzuru shook his head resolutely.

"I trust you tell when time is right for you." Javier sagged in the chair, relief evident on his face as he wished for what happened to stay between him and Brian, at least for the time being.

"Thank you, Yuzu." The prince smiled and pointed to a vase on the window sill, Javier followed his finger and took in the sight of the dainty, white flowers in the clear container.

"Snowdrop grows everywhere here," Yuzuru remarked, "Snowdrop means rebirth." Javier nodded along, unsure of where this talk of flowers was headed.

"Everyone can be reborn as good person, if try. I think you try hard." The pirate remained silent, quietly contemplating the flowers and their meaning. Honestly, Javier was touched just by the fact that Yuzuru thought he was trying. Maybe he really could be the good person Yuzuru thought of him to be.

They sat and chatted for a little while longer before Nobu knocked on the door and said that it was time for Javier to return to his quarters as Yuzuru was expecting Brian for a short meeting. Both men blushed in embarrassment, having forgotten that Nobu was on the other side of the door in the first place.

Javier bid Yuzuru farewell, as did the Prince, before he was led away feeling significantly lighter.


	8. Conflagration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALERT : We have potentially ooc Shoma and the beginnings of a really bad decision.

Javier awoke to a room painted by the rays of the early dawn sun. Calm and quiet, aside from the soft white noise of the snow drifting against the frozen palace. The blue hue of his surroundings gave off an otherworldly feeling as Javier sat up and rubbed his face, stretching all the while.

He wondered in the quiet, if this was what it felt like to be in the middle of life and death. Harmony and chilling balance that was only broken by the first beam of orange sunshine, indicating that this was life and not bleak death.

Without sparing much thought to it anymore, the pirate got dressed and happily received his breakfast which consisted of grilled fish, vegetables, and rice. The servants had seemingly got the hint that Javier disliked the soup, as he had returned it several times, cold and untouched.

After breakfast, Javier had received a surprising, but not unwanted visitor. The prince had come to him, his eyes alert despite the early time and his lips quivering. He was alone, without guards or adviser, which made the Spaniard conclude that Yuzuru had sneaked out of his chambers to visit him. He was also clutching a small wrapped bundle close to his chest, his knuckles white in their exertion.

"Javi." Yuzuru said, eyes glimmering and breathless as if he ran to the Spaniard's room. The mental image made the Spanish man crack a smile; he could see the prince running down the hall as quietly as he could muster, his regal robes flapping behind him in has haste.

"Good morning, Yuzu." The Spanish man said pleasantly, ignoring the fact that the battle was today and that there was a possibility that he was going to die before the sun set.

"Close eyes." Yuzuru instructed, leaving no room for pleasantries of any sort. With an impish smile, Javier did as he was told.

"Bend." Through his clothes, the Spaniard felt the slight poke at his knee. Without asking why, he bent his knees and waited for whatever the prince had in store for him.

"Good luck, Javi." Yuzuru breathed, leaning forward and pressing a closed mouth kiss on the Spaniard's cheek. Javier opened his eyes, drinking in the vulnerable expression on the young Japanese man's face; his eyes looking to the floor and his ears flushed.

"Here." The prince pressed the bundle into Javier's arms, gesturing for the Spanish man to open it soon after. Javier cocked his head and pulled the silk white ribbon that was wrapped around it, then removed the cloth which revealed a small, tattered yellow stuffed bear.

"Pooh-san is good luck charm. He will help Javi win." Yuzuru said, determined and hopeful. Javier laughed, his chest constricting but feeling light all the same. He pushed the small bear back into Yuzuru's hands, the teen looked up at him with confusion and a bit of hurt.

"I have a good luck charm already." Javier produced the cloth that Yuzuru had given him as his token of appreciation. The prince's eyes went wide in wonderment, and then understanding as he nodded, his mouth set in resolve and focus.

"Pooh-san and me cheer for you!" Yuzuru exclaimed happily, manipulating the bear into a serious bow which contrasted from the bear's stained but smiling face.

"I'm going to go and warm up, want to walk with me?" Javier offered, overcome with Yuzuru's excited aura and returning the teenager's smile with a bright one of his own.

"I have to go back. Brian not know I leave room." The Spaniard nodded in understanding, their smiles dampening just a tad but still mainly intact. He cocked his head and reached out for Yuzuru's slim hands, clasping them between his own for a long moment before letting go, their palms slid against one another, as if unwilling to part. Javier stepped back with a warm yet crooked grin while Yuzuru regarded him thoughtfully.

"Okay. I'll see you out there." Yuzuru nodded, casting one last glance back at Javier before slipping out of the door and out of the Spaniard's sight.

After the prince had taken his leave, Javier paced around the room while biting his thumbnail anxiously. The nerves that Yuzuru had momentarily dispelled had come back in full force. Honestly, it annoyed Javier. He had gone through so many things, from being thrown into the sea by his own family to being quite recently marooned by his own crew. This battle was nothing compared to any of the hardships he had endured.

Yet, still he paced restlessly until Nobu and Daisuke appeared with the instructions to take him to the ring.

~

The ring, which was quiet and desolate when Javier was in the midst of training, was now packed to the brim with common folk and nobles alike. It was jarring to see so many faces anticipating the death of Javier at the hands of their proclaimed hero, Keiji. However, he could see one shining face in the sea of scowls. In the front row, which was corded off just for royalty, he saw Yuzuru waving the bear around excitedly, Shoma was sitting beside him looking quite subdued, a little blue flag clutched within his fist. On the other side of the prince sat Brian, who merely dipped his head and flashed an encouraging smile to Javier.

Javier swallowed around the lump in his throat and twirled his rapier in his hands, a nervous tick he had created during some particularly boisterous sea storms.

"Remember the training. Not like the mountain, but the snake. Keiji is powerful, strong hits are go to for him. Avoid and wait for opening." Daisuke instructed, his hand clamping onto the Spaniard's shoulder tightly.

"Thank you, Daisuke." The Spanish man said genuinely, knowing that his biggest weakness was never being able to watch Keiji train. The other man was privy to a majority of Javier's training sessions, so he obviously had the upper hand in this situation.

The older Japanese man nodded and stepped back towards the entrance of the ring. He patted Keiji, who was just entering into the ring with his unsheathed katana, on the back. His expression was stoic and no-nonsense and Keiji merely bowed and made his way to the center of the ring, standing opposite of Javier.

"Today, we witness the battle between the Council's nomination for Prince Hanyu's Champion, Tanaka Keiji, and Prince Hanyu's nomination for Champion, Javier Fernandez. The last man standing will be declared Prince Hanyu's champion. Begin!" Daisuke announced from his place by the entrance. Javier narrowed his eyes, trying to block out the riotous yells and shrieks from the crowd while watching every movement from his opponent.

Keiji seem to be doing the same thing, he raised the katana above his head in a right hanging stance and moved around Javier like a tiger on the prowl. His face was void of any emotion, the Japanese man's entire existence seemed to be just to win at all costs.

Javier kept in step with Keiji, adjusting his own middle stance when needed and taking a step back when the Japanese swordsman advanced only a tiny bit. He swallowed, knowing that Keiji was playing a waiting game with him. There was no guarantee that the first to be on the offense was going to be the victor, so it was in his best interest to be on the defensive.

He didn't have to wait long as Keiji, seemingly tiring of the game he had instigated, sprinted towards him with his katana now at his side. Keiji swiped at him to which Javier feinted to the right, circling around Keiji and taking a stab at him, which was met with the Katana's blade.

Javier took a step back, already knowing that Daisuke's words rung true. Keiji's swings were filled with power, one swing to his rapier could send him to the ground in seconds.

The Japanese swordsman seemed to have also gone through that thought process, as he advanced forward once again and began to rain blows on Javier. Each strike sent the Spaniard fumbling back, his thin rapier only doing so much to defend him until one well placed strike sent him to the frozen ground.

"Do you revoke your nomination?" Keiji asked above the din of the crowd, his sword poised above the Spaniard, ready for the killing blow to Javier's throat. However, before Javier could even think of answering, he heard the familiar voice of his prince cut through the background noise.

"Vamos Javi!" Javier grinned up at Keiji and shook his head, then he rolled over and popped back up to his feet with the decision to take Daisuke's wise words to heart. Be like a snake, strike quick and strike hard.

Immediately, he evaded Keiji's attack by merely stepping away from him. Javier avoided striking his sword against his opponent's katana, as it would put him back into his cornered situation. Instead, he dodged with his body, swiping at Keiji's feet when the opportunity arose which made the swordsman unsteady and diverted his focus.

While Javier had assumed that Keiji's skill and style would be a mix between both Daisuke and Ryuju, he realized that the assumption had been one of his greatest mistakes coming into the battle. Keiji had a style that was neither Daisuke's long honed patient technique, like an eroded rock in a waterfall showing just the necessity of what it is, or like Ryuju's burst of power but lack of stamina very much like a dying star, destroying everything in its wake and leaving just a black void.

Keiji was minutely patient, only reserved for a bluff. He was strong, but withheld enough power to not become tired or sluggish. Self-assured and confident with his sword, like an extension of his arm. But Javier knew that Keiji's weakness was obvious; he was slow and easily distracted.

Javier continued to dance out of Keiji's reach, straying into his line of attack for a long enough moment for Keiji to try and strike at him before evading with fancy footwork the Japanese man found annoying and flashy.

"Stop messing around!" Keiji barked out, slashing his katana towards Javier and grunting in anger when it was met with air. Javier remained silent and focused, refusing to let Keiji break his concentration as he stabbed at the Japanese man before backing away again.

"I'll kill you!" The Japanese man growled, stepping forward and falling prey to Javier's trap. The Spaniard feinted to Keiji's right and when his katana sloppily stabbed at where Javier had been moments prior, Javier shoulder checked him harshly on his side which sent the Japanese swordsman sprawling to the ground.

Javier pressed his foot against Keiji's chest and the tip of rapier against his forehead.

"Do you revoke your nomination?" Javier asked, his devil may care grin on full display. Keiji glared harshly, but nevertheless he threw his katana to the side and nodded. The Spaniard sighed in relief, sheathing his rapier and helping Keiji up off the ground, much to the Japanese man's confusion.

"You were supposed to kill me," Keiji whispered awkwardly, as if Javier had forgotten an unimportant detail in their battle.

"I don't think the Prince would be too happy with me killing one of his guards." Javier shrugged while Daisuke called the match and declared the Spaniard the winner.

"I...Eto...Thank you." Keiji bowed his head, hands trembling by his sides. Javier took a good look at the young man; up close he looked extremely young, he couldn't have been older than the prince himself. Yet, here he was, fully intending to kill or be killed depending on what others wanted. Javier couldn't help but feel a wave of pity for the younger man.

"Um, anytime." The Spaniard muttered, letting Daisuke guide him and Keiji outside of the ring and then, to his confusion, Yuzuru's quarters.

He waited awkwardly, sitting at the table and fiddling with his thumbs before three people burst through the door. Yuzuru was the first to enter, then Brian with Shoma trailing behind him looking sullen.

"Javi!" Yuzuru cried, pulling Javier out of his chair and throwing his arms around the Spaniard's neck tightly.

"You were amazing! You hear me cheer, right?!" Javier patted his back with a hearty chuckle.

"You were the loudest, Yuzu. How could I not hear you?" Both Brian and Yuzuru laughed at that, the Japanese teen's eyes were brimming with moisture but a glowing and toothy smile was still on his face.

"Really great work, Javier. I'm proud to say that you really proved yourself out there to all of them." Brian clapped him firmly on the shoulder, his face wrought with pride.

"Good job..." Shoma said weakly, his eyes boring holes into the floor. Much to his quiet fury, nobody had even acknowledged what he had said as Yuzuru was still too busy fawning over Javier. He clicked his tongue and quietly slipped out of the room, knowing no one would notice his disappearance.

He cursed aloud all the way to his room, he cursed Javier, but he cursed Yuzuru the most of all. For Yuzuru was the one who had casted Shoma out of his heart in favor of the Spaniard. Oh, how he wished to have known of the prince's fickle heart before he had fallen so deeply.


	9. Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally wasn't listening to BTS while writing this chapter...Okay I lied, I totally was lol.
> 
> The next chapter will probably be a bit, sorry! I haven't had the time to write since exams were last week and I've been taking care of kids for the past couple of days ;;

Once the angry noble got back to his room, he slammed the door shut and shoved everything off of his desk and onto the floor, kicking his own possessions as he passed them. Normally, he would find a nice place to calm down and think. However, the raging fire of anger and jealousy raced inside of him, making his hands shake and his breathing ragged.

He felt like destroying, like smashing something into a million pieces with his hands. He hurt and he wished dearly to make something else hurt, if just for a while. Maybe it could assuage his own broken heart.

That look shared between Javier and Yuzuru spelled doom for Shoma. The look was veiled, but there was a fledgling of something far deeper, unbreakable, growing between the Spaniard and the prince. The prince was in the process of falling in love with the Spanish man, and Javier looked as if he was already head over heels but couldn't identify what the emotion was.

An angry spike of envy crashed through Shoma as he thought of Javier. A murderer who plundered, dirtied with the blood of those he had killed, forever tainted with the sins he had committed. Someone like him should never have been able to be near the prince, nevermind hug him and fall in love with him. It was disgusting, Shoma thought. Yuzuru was falling in love with a wolf in sheep's clothing and the teenager was convinced that this was going to be his downfall.

"Master? I heard a noise, are you alright-Master!" A voice broke through Shoma's mental anguish. He turned to the door and saw the wide-eye stare of his serving boy, Sota.

"Leave!" Shoma yelled, grabbing an inkwell from the floor and throwing it at the wall by Sota. Watching it explode and dirty a side of Sota's yukata didn't bring the satisfaction as he hoped it would, instead he felt guilt flush into his head with a sting.

"Master, please." Sota said, his voice quiet and soothing as he stepped further into the room towards his upset master.

"Forgive me, Sota." Shoma said weakly, letting his serving boy and childhood best friend wrap his arms around him.

"Forget about me, what's wrong?" The serving boy asked, letting Shoma nestle his face in his black hair.

"You're going to hate me." The noble sighed, removing himself from the servant's embrace and turning away from him.

"We've known each other our whole lives, how could I hate someone like you?" Sota reminded him, coming up behind the noble and embracing him from behind, his cheek pressed against the fourteen year old's back.

"I tried to kill Yuzuru's knight." Shoma confessed with difficulty, he waited with baited breath for the judgement, for Sota to rip himself away and spit insults at him. To his amazement, it never came.

"Why?" Shoma bit his lip.

"I wanted to protect Yuzuru, but I'm weak. I'm still as weak as I was three years ago. I'm so stupid, Sota." The noble muttered, letting the overwhelming tears drop down his face in a steady stream.

"How could I protect Yuzuru when I couldn't even save my own brother? Itsuki died because I was weak and now it'll happen all over again." Sota hugged Shoma tighter, his own tears began to fall as he recalled the memory of the boy who had once been called the other side of Shoma's coin.

While Shoma was a quiet and shy child, Itsuki had been the rowdy and boisterous younger brother who loved to play. Despite being so different from one another, Shoma and Itsuki were close and rarely fought. In fact, Shoma protected his brother fiercely, never letting anything hurt the small boy.

Unfortunately, Shoma wasn't strong enough to protect his young brother from the ravages of war. While Shoma had been shipped off to a compound outside of the Snow Kingdom with Yuzuru and Saya, Itsuki was to follow with their parents only a day later. Yet, the boy never came. They had been caught by the opposing forces and systematically executed along with Yuzuru's parents.

"It should have been me...They should have sent him first. What a stupid mistake." Shoma cried bitterly.

"You had no control over what happened with Master Uno, Mistress Uno, and Master Itsuki. We were only eleven years old," Sota said, trying to soothe Shoma's quaking body.

"I'm so angry, Sota. Why would he pick a murderer over me? I thought I was enough." The noble sobbed miserably, Sota bit his lip with a conflicted expression painted on his face.

"Master Shoma," he mumbled, turning the teenager around in his arms, "I know this isn't the perfect time but...Please accept my feelings." With that said, Sota leaned forward and captured Shoma's lips in a kiss, pressing his warm hands against the tear stained cheeks of the noble.

Shoma gave him a look of complete wonderment when Sota pulled away. His cheeks were now a pleasant shade of rose and the tempest within his heart had momentarily calmed.

"You are more than enough for me, Master Shoma." Sota whispered, kissing Shoma's nose before leaning their foreheads together. Shaky hands rose up to Shoma's damp face, wiping away the last remnants of bitter and salty tears. The noble was entranced by the roughness of those thumbs as he leaned into the tender touch.

"Sota I-I never knew..." The servant sent him a weary smile, his own tears abated.

"Let's run away from here. Just you and I, we can run away from Itsuki, from Yuzuru, from everything. I promise." Shoma bit his lip, unsure of whether or not to agree, but the searing look Sota directed at him made his heart warm. If he couldn't find happiness with Yuzuru, maybe he could with Sota. Sota, who was kind, who did whatever he could for Shoma and grieved just as hard for Itsuki as Shoma once did.

"Let's go." The noble agreed, accepting another kiss from his servant and sending him away with the plan of meeting back up in an hour with supplies and then setting off for some unknown destination far away from Yuzuru and the Snow Kingdom.

Suddenly, he felt himself yearning for the hottest and driest climate. Some place so far away that it would force Shoma to remember the heartbreak as if it were some faint nightmare from his youth, the feeling of worthlessness dull and no longer tangible.

He wondered if there was such a place somewhere in the world that fulfilled his desire. Maybe if he ran far enough, to the ends of the Earth, he could end up being swallowed whole by the sun.

~

He is really going to get it, Mihoko thought as she made her way to her young student's room. They had agreed a couple of days earlier to meet in order to go over the noble's training schedule and now Shoma was nowhere to be seen.

Mihoko shook her head, Shoma was probably still asleep, dead to the world with no regards for his plans for the day. Once she got to his room, she threw the door open, fully intending to see a groggy Shoma still half-asleep on his futon. However, what met her was a trashed room that was void of Shoma's presence. She walked inside and looked around, wondering what in the hell had happened and was fighting down the feeling of dread that was stirring inside her abdomen.

"What the hell, Shoma?" She murmured to herself, shifting the fallen items on the floor around until something caught her eye. A folded note was laying haphazardly, looking like it had been crushed underfoot. She picked it up and unfolded it, looking over it for a second before going extremely pale and slapping a hand to her mouth in horror.

~

"So matador fight bull?" Yuzuru asked through a mouthful of rice, momentarily forgetting his manners in favor of his fascination with Javier's stories about Spain.

"Right, with a sword and a cape." Javier nodded, picking up a piece of salmon clumsily with his chopsticks. Yuzuru turned his head cutely to the side in confusion as he pondered Javier's words.

"Why cape?" Javier paused for a moment in thought.

"Well, the first one is just to show off, you know? It shows that the matador has control of the bull. The other one, the muleta, hides the sword from the bull or something like that." The Spaniard explained, grinning to himself as he watched Yuzuru nod his head like a student learning something important from a teacher.

"What Matador mean?" The prince questioned, popping a cube of tofu into his mouth.

"Well, it means killer..." Yuzuru made a face and swallowed the tofu.

"Like what Javi use to be?" He said with an innocent expression, Javier regarded him sheepishly.

"Um, If you want to put it like that..." The Spanish man said wearily, fumbling with his chopsticks.

"Tell me about," Yuzuru pressed his forefinger to his bottom lip in thought as he searched for something to ask Javier about.

"Ah! Why Javi come to Japan?" Javier nearly spat out his salmon at that question, but he meekly swallowed and frowned, thinking of something to say.

"Just a pit stop, don't think too much about it." He dismissed with a strained smile while Yuzuru tilted his head.

"Pit...Stop?" Javier nodded feverishly.

"A pit stop is a place you stop at to get supplies." He explained, Yuzuru nodded in understanding and went back to eating his miso soup.

"Yuzuru!" Both men jumped in fright at Brian's sudden entrance, so much so that Yuzuru spilled the hot soup on himself and Javier's salmon was halfway off of his plate.

"Are you okay?" Javier asked while Yuzuru just whimpered.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you two were eating lunch." Brian apologized, producing a handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to Javier so that he could press it over the prince's hand.

"It okay, Brian. Knock next time, please." Yuzuru said, taking the cloth from Javier and mopping himself up as best as he could with it.

"What is wrong?" Brian scowled deeply and handed the prince the note he had been clutching in his hands.

"Shoma has run away. Mihoko said that she went to check up on him after he didn't show up for one of their training meetings, she went to his room and found the place destroyed with that note on the floor." Brian explained as calmly as he could.

"He most likely sleeping somewhere weird like last time." Yuzuru assured, but opened the note and read it nonetheless. However, in the midst of reading the note, his carefree smile dropped to an expression of confliction. The change in the atmosphere worried Javier greatly, as the Prince had switched moods in seconds.

"Javier, is true that Shoma tried to kill you?" Yuzuru demanded, his voice tight and his face full of restrained fury. Javier gulped.

"Yes, he attacked me the first day I was here...Right after you left." Yuzuru nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"Yuzuru, what is the course of action?" Brian asked nervously, never having seen Yuzuru this way before.

"According to the note, Shoma left willingly with the serving boy. If he wants to leave, then he can go. He's old enough to decide what he wants from now on." Yuzuru said firmly in his language, his mouth set in a thin line and his hands trembling with anger. Even though Javier couldn't understand, he was sure it wasn't good just by the murderous gaze the prince was sending to the note in his hands. The Spaniard was sure that if Yuzuru was just a tad bit angrier, he could set the paper on fire just by glaring at it.

The prince crumpled up the note in his fist.

"Yuzuru, we can't just let him go. Especially not with the serving boy, they could be killed!" Brian argued, looking to Javier for back up.

"Brian's right, Yuzu. Shoma apologized for it and I'm not holding it against him. You should send out at least a search party for them." Javier said, trying to assuage Yuzuru's anger by speaking softly.

"Enough!" Yuzuru stood up from his chair quickly, looking imposing and fearsome despite his normally soft and kind demeanor.

"I say let him go. If he hate it here so much, he can go." The prince yelled before stalking out of the room, leaving both Javier and Brian to come up with some way to calm him down.

~

"Javi." The Spaniard groaned, slapping the finger that was poking his face and turning over in a bid to get away from whatever was trying to rouse him from sleep.

"Javiii. Wake up." Javier mumbled a 'go away' in Spanish, wanting nothing more in the moment than to be left alone to sleep peacefully.

"Javi, please wake up." Before Javier could yell at the person trying wake him up, he felt a weight settle on top of the lower half of his body which made his eyes slam open and the upper part of his body to jerk up and collide with something hard.

"Ow! Javi that hurt!" Yuzuru whined, rubbing his forehead with a pout.

"What are you doing in my room on top of me?" Javier screeched while gingerly pushing Yuzuru off of him.

"I change mind. Let's go after Shoma." The prince said matter of factly.

"Yuzu, you couldn't have decided that maybe three hours earlier? You know, before I went to bed." Yuzuru shrugged.

"Couldn't sleep." He said almost apologetically. Javier sighed and rubbed at his eyes tiredly.

"Why can't you send a search party for him? You're a prince, you don't have to go after him yourself." Javier groaned, immediately regretting his words due the disapproving look the prince shot at him.

"That why I have to. I need to prove myself as worthy prince and...My fault Shoma leave in first place." Yuzuru admitted with down turned eyes and a self-hating scowl.

"Alright. We can leave in the morning." Javier sighed, turning over in the bed to face away from the prince.

"Leave now, Javi can escape after we get Shoma." The prince offered hopefully, his voice verging on begging.

"Ugh, fine. Let's go." The Spaniard muttered, throwing the blankets off of himself in a huff and ushering the Japanese teen to his own room so that he could gather his things.

 


	10. Betrayal of Our Bond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it bad that we're starting to get into the main action of the story? 
> 
> Oh boooooooooy
> 
> Also, I was mistaken, after this chapter I probably won't update for a short while. I had forgotten that I had already finished this chapter up and just needed to upload it. My apologies!

The chill of the night was bitter, the wind bit at Shoma's exposed face and every inhale stung his lungs. His cloak was futile in the wake of the cold night and his scarf barely even protected his flustered face. The teenager longed for the warmth of his bed, the promise of breakfast, and Yuzuru's company.

He shook his head with a deep frown. He attempted to discard those thoughts in favor of the possibilities he could have with Sota. The teenager tried to project optimism into his mind and actions, trying to think of the adventures he would take part in and with who. Absentmindedly, Shoma patted his horse on the neck affectionately while Sota explained where they were going.

"The port is just a three days ride away. We might need to stop in a couple of hours to rest, but we'll be out of this kingdom in no time." Sota said, pointing to the east where the port was.

"Why the port?" Shoma asked, he had never been outside of the palace walls aside from three years ago.

"Aside from Sendai Palace and the village, the port is the only habitable place in this wasteland of a kingdom. It's the only way to get out of this place without having to go through the mountains and the snow." The noble nodded, wondering where they would go once they got to the port.

"Where should we go after getting there?" Sota hummed for a moment, looking extremely carefree as opposed to Shoma's slightly anxious expression.

"I don't know. We'll figure it out once we get there." The serving boy said with finality, effectively shutting down anymore conversation about this topic.

Shoma rode on silently, thinking about Yuzuru and his possible reaction to the note he had left him. Would he be angry? Happy that he was gone? Shoma could only guess.

"You're thinking too loudly." Sota ribbed at him, Shoma laughed with a strained voice.

"Just thinking about Yuzuru." He offered shyly, not expecting the ugly glare Sota shot at him.

"I told you to forget about him." The serving boy said with a puff of jealousy which made Shoma glance at him questioningly.

"I still worry about him..." Shoma murmured uncomfortably. Much to Shoma's discomfort, they continued on their journey in an uneasy silence between them. Sota didn't speak again until he announced they were stopping to rest and instructed Shoma to put up their tent while he fetched wood for their fire.

Shoma went about it almost mindlessly, his thoughts seemingly still revolving around Yuzuru and, his stomach clenched involuntarily, Javier. After an hour, Sota made it back to camp with sticks of varying lengths clutched against his chest. Without saying a word, they started the fire and began cooking the fish that Sota had sneaked from the kitchens.

"I'm sorry..." Sota sighed, turning the fish over the fire, his eyes never straying from the bright flames while Shoma huddled next to him.

"I shouldn't have snapped at you, but you can understand my jealousy, right?" Shoma chuckled mirthlessly, bumping his shoulder against the serving boy's.

"You shouldn't be jealous, Yuzuru would never see me in that way so there's nothing to worry about." Sota hummed for a moment, seemingly thinking Shoma's words over.

"That doesn't really reassure me, Shoma." The shorter teenager rolled his eyes and placed a hand over Sota's.

"We're here, miles away from the palace. Together. Shouldn't that be enough?" Shoma muttered, starting to feel irritation prickle at the back of his head.

"It is." Sota agreed, but his tone made Shoma feel as if he thought differently. Silently, he began to wonder if running away was a good idea. He but his lip and banished the thought. The noble trusted Sota as they had been friends since he could remember and besides, it was only natural for the serving boy to be a little jealous. Shoma had treated Yuzuru as if he were the only thing he could see, the only thing that mattered.

"Besides," Shoma started off sly, "Yuzuru never kissed me before."

To Shoma's delight, this earned a hearty chuckle from Sota, who proceeded to lean over and peck the noble on his forehead.

"Right, I'm just being silly." Sota laughed which lightened the atmosphere around the campfire. They continued to smile and joke with each other throughout their meager dinner and fell asleep pressed against each other for warmth in the tent.

~

Shoma was soon awoken by Sota jostling him awake, his face serious and voice soft but frantic.

"We have to get going." Without another word, they packed everything up and were shortly on their way to the port that Sota had assured would be the safest way to leave the kingdom.

By the time Sota had permitted Shoma to stop, the poor noble felt as if his stomach was cannibalizing itself and his throat ached for water. Once they had tied the horses up to a tree, Shoma hungrily tore into his portion of bread while Sota eyed him wearily.

"Something wrong?" Shoma asked once he had swallowed his mouthful of food.

"Nothing, sometimes I forget you're nobility when you eat." He smirked and took a bite of his own food.

"You know I wasn't good at the manners part of being a noble." Shoma said, plucking at the grass by his leg. The nagging feeling inside his stomach was back when he remembered how he couldn't consider himself a noble anymore. Outside of the kingdom, he was just another teenager. The only thing keeping him safe was the katana that had been passed down from his father after his death.

"And I thought being a noble was so easy." Sota scoffed.

"What's so easy about it? I had to go to lessons, train, deal with people I'd rather not deal with, and eventually marry some random person the council picked out for me." Shoma frowned, annoyed by Sota saying such a thing.

"Try serving ungrateful nobles for the rest of your life and die without having anything to show for it. I'm sure that's a lot more bothersome." The serving boy pointed out, Shoma averted his eyes, unsure of what else to say.

"Well, now we don't have to deal with any of that now. We're free to do whatever we want." Shoma finally said, smiling as sweetly as he could muster to Sota.

"R-Right." Sota coughed, looking down at the ground before standing up and dusting off his pants.

"I'm going to get some water, want some?" Shoma nodded, rubbing at his eyes and wishing for a quick nap.

"Please." Sota left and soon came back with the canteen and handed it to the noble.

"Aren't you thirsty? You can go first." The serving boy shook his head.

"I'm not that thirsty. You go ahead." Shoma shrugged and took a mouthful of water before swallowing with a grimace.

"Did you clean the canteen before filling it up? The water tastes kind of funny..." Sota frowned and shook his head.

"I think I might've forgotten to, sorry Shoma." The noble took another gulp and handed the container to Sota who took it but didn't drink.

Suddenly, Shoma felt his limbs go heavy and his breathing slow despite the panic that was washing over him.

"Sota, what was in that?" He mumbled, the words becoming slurred at the end of his sentence. Sota merely stood over him, his face dark and his fists clenched against his sides.

"Just go to sleep. It'll be over soon, I promise." Sota murmured, almost comfortingly. Shoma tried to fight the unconsciousness that was washing over him, drowning him in blurry vision and dulled senses until eventually it was all too much.

~

"Yuzuru, are you sure about this?" Brian asked for the seemingly umpteenth time in the past twenty minutes as he watched the prince pack his clothes into a canvas bag in preparation for his journey to find the missing noble. Yuzuru sighed and nodded, pausing for a moment to shoot Brian an annoyed look.

"Hey! Don't look at me like that! I have the right to be concerned, you've only left the palace only once before." Brian nagged, but nevertheless he handed the prince a canteen of water to pack.

"Brian, it okay. I can protect myself." Yuzuru reminded him sternly, nodding to the katana on the table, which was encased in an ivory sheath with sapphire etchings running down the middle of it which branched off in the shape of tree limbs. On the hilt, the kanji for 'Hana Ni Nare' was etched long ago by Yuzuru's father when he had inherited the sword from his father.

"Just...Just be careful, okay? The council is going to kill me if something happens to you." Even though he was concerned, Brian couldn't help but offer his charge a fond smile. He loved the fact that Yuzuru was willing to put himself in danger for the sake of his friends, even though it terrified the Canadian man extremely.

"Don't worry. Be back in no time!" Yuzuru grinned up at Brian reassuringly, trying to assuage his adviser's worries. It seemed to work, as Brian merely sighed and rubbed his temples.

"I'll hold you to that." He said, grasping the prince's shoulder firmly before letting go and stepping back.

"See you in couple of days!" The prince said, waving a quick goodbye as he walked to the door, bag in hand, and disappeared into the darkened hallway.

Despite the heaviness in his chest, Brian smiled wearily and left the room not long after Yuzuru. He made his way down the same hallway but instead of going down the staircase to the main area of the palace, he ascended up the stairs and followed the maze like hallways until he came across a nondescript door and slipped inside.

The room was dimly lit, the flickering radiance of the candles made the shadow of the alter loom before Brian as he bowed before it and cleaned his hands in the babbling fountain.

He lit the incense on the alter and knelt in a silent prayer to keep Yuzuru and Javier safe. The Canadian looked up; the pictures of Yuzuru's parents, Shoma's parents and brother, and many others who had lost their lives in the war with the Volcanic Island Kingdom seemingly stared down at him.

Brian sincerely hoped that Yuzuru wouldn't be the next person to have their picture hung on the alter.


	11. The Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Javier and Yuzuru are on track to finding Shoma. However, exhaustion and ill feelings may unravel their plan before it even begins. Meanwhile, Sota's plan is revealed but will it backfire against him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no post guys! Sorry, a lot of things just happened all at once and I had to prioritize school before writing aaaand I also broke my leg so that was fun;;
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. My writing style is a little bit weird in the chapter since I haven't written anything for the past two months-ish. Either way, I hope you guys like it and more updates should be on the way since summer classes are ending in two more weeks. Apologies for any grammar mistakes, I will fix them as I find them!
> 
> Also, I would like extend my condolences to Denis Ten's family, friends, and competitors. What happened was a tragedy and over something so trivial. It's just crazy and extremely sad. Please stay safe everyone.

The night was still considerably young when both Javier and Yuzuru set off from the Snow Kingdom's stables, the moon was high in the sky and shining so brightly that they could see the trail without the use of the lantern.

Even though it was not late, Javier could hear the faint deep intake of breath as Yuzuru continuously yawned. Every so often he glanced back to see the prince hurriedly blinking his eyes or nodding his head, the clopping of their horses' hooves lulling him into sleep. The Spaniard smiled fondly, he slowed his own horse and grabbed onto the reins of Yuzuru's horse so that it wouldn't wander off with Yuzuru fast asleep on its back.

"I can do it," Yuzuru said thickly, grabbing onto the reins of his horse and brushing off Javier's concerned expression.

"So where are we headed?" The Spaniard asked, keeping his eyes trained on the trail before them while making sure to be alert just in case they were accosted by bandits.

"The Sendai port, only point of access to rest of world." The prince said, yawning once more despite his effort in covering it up.

"And the mountains?" Javier questioned, turning back to see Yuzuru shake his head.

"Suicide. Mountains are uninhabitable." Javier hummed in response and the duo continued on until the dead of night when the Spaniard could hear his prince's soft snores behind him.

He chuckled to himself, continuing on before making an abrupt stop in response to a loud thump and a yelp behind him.

"Yuzuru?" He asked, turning around again to see his prince halfway onto the ground with his foot caught in the saddle of the horse, said horse continuing to drag it's rider at a leisurely pace.

"Help? Please?" Yuzuru called out while trying to right himself, to no avail. Javier buried his chuckles at the sight of his prince in his predicament and stopped his own horse before swinging a leg over it and to the ground.

"Brace yourself," Javier said before pulling Yuzuru's foot free and watching him tumble to the earth in a heap.

"I told you we should have waited until the morning," the Spaniard scolded while helping his prince up from the ground and dusting him off.

"No use, Shoma gone for good by then." Yuzuru said, preparing to jump back on his horse but was stopped by his knight.

"Don't you dare get back on that horse. If you fall again you could be trampled or hit your head on a rock. I have an idea," Javier ordered, Yuzuru scowled but did as he was told.

"What are you doing?" Yuzuru asked, crossing his arms in front of himself while watching Javier put the supplies on his horse, then tying the reins of the horse onto the Spaniard's saddle.

"Get on my horse," Javier said, his voice leaving no room for argument. Yuzuru glared at him before giving up and hoisting himself onto the horse with a quiet 'hmph'. After Yuzuru was securely on the animal, Javier swung his leg over the saddle and joined the prince. His chest was pressed against the prince's back and his arms caged the young man within his embrace.

"Why-why you on horse too?" Yuzuru squawked, flailing his arms but immediately stopping after nearly falling off the horse again.

"I swear, Yuzuru, if you do that again you're going to be walking to the port." Javier snapped and took control of the reins. Predictably, the prince pouted in silence until Javier could feel his once stiff body slacken against him, the exhaustion finally washing over him. Javier glanced down; Yuzuru's head was dipped, his chin resting against his collar bone and his chest rising slowly.

The Spaniard adjusted his prince to make sure the sleeping teenager didn't fall and continued on their quest to find and bring Shoma back. Every once in a while, he would glance back to make sure the other horse was still tethered then return his eyes to the trail.

"So...Tired..." Yuzuru muttered sleepily after Javier readjusted him again.

"I know, go back to sleep. I got you." Javier replied with a hushed voice, he felt Yuzuru nod his head and heard nothing more until they finally stopped in the early hours of the morning with dawn fast approaching.

"Hm?" The prince voiced tiredly, both eyes blinking up at Javier blearily.

"We're stopping to rest," the knight replied, carefully dismounting from the horse so as to not jostle Yuzuru.

"Okay," Yuzuru said, letting Javier help him off the horse since his legs had fallen asleep.

"Let me help." The prince said as he watched Javier remove the bundle of cloth that was their tent from the other horse.

"It's fine." Javier said, gesturing for the prince to sit on a fallen tree while he readied the tent.

"Javi, I can help." Yuzuru huffed while walking over to the mess of cloth and picking up an end of it, Javier glared at him and ripped it out of his hands.

"I appreciate the help, but I'm too tired to waste any time on teaching you how to pitch a tent." He said, voice annoyed and tight. Yuzuru scowled and shook his head, his arms coming up to cross over his chest.

"I'm not dumb, Javi. I can help." The Spaniard shook his head once again and pointed to the tree once more.

"I'm not going to argue, just sit there and wait until I'm done." Yuzuru shot Javier a nasty look and grabbed the tent once more.

"Yuzuru." Javier warned which made the prince through down the tent harshly.

"You think since I'm prince that I'm weak?! I can't do anything?!" He fumed, eyes poisonous slits and his body practically bristling with an anger that made Javier suddenly nervous.

"No, that's not what I think." Javier said, trying to soothe the angered prince but it only made him more furious.

"Stop," Yuzuru paused, his eyes searching the trees for the words he wanted, "treating me like child!"

"Well, maybe if you didn't make rash decisions and fall off your horse because of how tired you were, I wouldn't treat you like a damn child!" The Spaniard growled, too angry to care about his barbed words. Instead, he gained some type of bleak pleasure from seeing the pristine prince's face twist in something that didn't befit him.

The prince huffed and walked over to the horse that was holding their things. He rummaged through Javier's pack, much to Javier's mixed annoyance and confusion.

"What are you doing going through my things?" He barked, advancing to the prince and catching his sheathed rapier between surprised hands. He looked to Yuzuru with a confused expression, only seeing the younger man pull out his sheathed katana from his own pack.

"Fight me," Yuzuru hissed, releasing the black blade from its sheath and pointing it squarely at Javier.

"I'm not going to fight you!" Javier yelled, but it was too late as Yuzuru had sprinted across the clearing they had decided to make camp in. There was only a split second for Javier to unsheathe his own rapier before Yuzuru ran him through.

"At least wait a second!" The Spaniard complained, deflecting another strike of Yuzuru's ebony blade.

Yuzuru's fighting style was something Javier had never seen before nor experienced. Unlike the guards, Yuzuru's style was polished, every step measured and graceful. The prince artfully blocked every swipe of Javier's rapier, his hand light and exuding every ounce of control the prince had within his body. His strikes were powerful, each thrust sending the knight stumbling backwards until he was pressed up against a tree. Even with all of his training, the knight had only the barest hint of a second to duck when Yuzuru brought his blade down like lightning.

Javier evaded, stepping as far away as he could from the prince while taking in the damage to the tree. His eyes widened in shock as Yuzuru's sword had nearly cut halfway through the tree. There was no doubt in his mind that if Yuzuru had struck him, he would be dead.

"Are you trying to kill me?" He called out, annoyed and a tad bit frightened for his well being.

"You won't take seriously unless I try and kill you." Those words didn't comfort Javier in the least, but he decided to play at Yuzuru's game. If the prince wanted to see who was stronger, then Javier wasn't going to be nice about it.

"Fine." He snapped and advanced forward, swiping his rapier towards the prince. The satisfying sound of steel meeting steel echoed throughout the clearing as Yuzuru and Javier fought.

Both the prince and his knight fought, every once in a while Javier would gain the upper hand but quickly lost it to Yuzuru once more, both interlocked in a dangerous dance of swords. Eventually, it became clear that they could go on in this fight until both tired from exhaustion with no clear winner.

However, Javier could see Yuzuru smirk at him from the corner of his eye and in a blink of that same eye, he was flat on his back with the black blade aimed between his eyes.

"I win." Yuzuru breathed, his face composed but the huffing of his breath made it obvious to Javier that he had exerted himself past his limits. Javier waited for the prince to sheathe his blade before sitting up, he looked around the clearing and his rapier a few feet away laying in the fallen leaves.

"How did you even...? You know what nevermind." Javier sighed, the annoyance back in full force as he took in Yuzuru's gloating expression. The Spaniard stood up and brushed himself off before retrieving his sword and sheathing it.

"Put up the damn tent then, I don't care." Yuzuru laughed and did so, occasionally chuckling to himself triumphantly which earned him an exasperated huff from Javier. The Spaniard sulked over to the log where he had directed Yuzuru to sit and sat down. After a while of silence between the two men with only the sounds of Yuzuru putting up the tent punctuating it, the prince came over with a neutral expression worrying on his face.

"Tent is finished. Still mad?" Yuzuru asked, gently tapping Javier's boot with his own zori sandal.

"Why would I be mad? You won on a fluke." The prince merely rolled his eyes at that and turned away, heading to the tent. Javier sighed and got up, following the prince into the tent and situating himself on the very edge of the small sleeping mat they had brought.

Fitfully, both men fell asleep.

~

Shoma awoke, his head pounding and his body aching. Disoriented, he blinked his bleary eyes and could only make out darkness, but as he blinked more he could feel a scratchy material rubbing against his eyelids and lashes.

"Mmm," he mumbled, feeling the same material against his mouth. Shoma took a deep breath through his nose and flexed his hands and feet which were bound, like he thought it was the same material.

"You're awake already?" He heard Sota's voice, muffled but otherwise just nonchalant. Shoma tried to cry out but was shushed with a quick slap on his back.

"Stay quiet just a little longer, we're almost at the port." Sota assured, the noble whimpered and tried to calm down. He tried to focus on the steady sound of the horse's feet clopping along the path. However, every time his mind went clear, thoughts of Yuzuru back at the palace with no knowledge of what has become of him made the noble nearly sick.

"Here," Shoma flinched as he felt something heavy drape over him. He squirmed and tried to get the thing off of him since the feeling of suffocation was overwhelming his senses.

"It's a blanket, calm down." The young noble stilled, terrified of receiving another painful hit to his back or even his head.  
  
Sota pressed on while the clopping of the horse's hooves were joined with a cacophony of sounds, from people bustling this way and that combined with the riotous laughter and swearing of a nearby tavern. Shoma quaked in his bonds, terrified of what was going to happen as the swearing and obnoxious guttural laughter came closer and closer.

After a short while, Sota finally came to a halt.

"Wait," he instructed, as if Shoma had a choice in the matter. Nevertheless, Shoma stayed still against the rump of the horse, only groaning slightly when his stomach began to ache because of the pressure. He flinched when he heard the sound boot clad feet coming toward him and a rough hand tearing the heavy blanket away and touching his face.

"Here he is," Shoma could hear Sota announcing, an edge of dark pride and gloating in his voice.

"Wonderful, take him inside." A rough voice barked out and suddenly, Shoma felt two pairs of hand lifting him up harshly. He felt the air leave his lungs as he was swung over someone's shoulder painfully.

"Follow me," the voice directed to someone, Shoma guessed it was Sota.

Even though he was blindfolded, the noble could tell that he was being brought into the tavern. The loud noises and noxious smoke from cigars made his head hurt, he whimpered aloud and was greeted by a dirty laugh from the person holding him.

Eventually, Shoma heard a door open and he was thrown down on the floor none too gently. His back banged painfully against the wooden floor and his arm was twisted uncomfortable behind him.

"I'm very impressed with you Sota; not only did you bring me such a sought after item, but a noble as well! I'll have you know that citizens from the Sendai Palace fetch a pretty penny in auction, but a Sendai noble? He is worth five times his weight in gold, maybe even ten in the Western market." The voice exclaimed happily and even through the blindfold, Shoma could feel everyones' eyes on him.

"I'm glad I could do business with you, now for the payment." Sota said, his tone bordering on hysterically greedy.

"Payment?" The voice gently snarled, the noble felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Well, I didn't bring him here for free, now did I?" The voice tsked at Sota almost playfully.

"What a naive, petulant child. You think I would pay you? When you are a commodity yourself? Like I said, even you Sendai commoners are worth an arm and a leg. I bet I could get at least two times your weight in gold, four times in silver." Shoma heard Sota take a step back in preparation to run, but the sounds of the boy struggling and furniture being kicked confirmed what Shoma was sure had happened. Both Shoma and Sota were now in the hands of these unknown men and were most likely going to be sold.


	12. A Friend in the Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this chapter is so disjointed it's kinda hard to make a coherent summary for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was literally one of the hardest chapters I have ever written for any of my fics lol. It was originally supposed to be two chapters, but it was difficult to find a cut off point so I combined it into one whole super long chapter. But heeeyyy, we're finally getting towards the end of the fic!  
> If there are any mistakes please let me know, I'm hurriedly proof reading it lol.

Shoma awoke with the immediate feeling of being sick, the lurching of his surroundings exacerbated the feeling to the point where he turned over and emptied the remaining contents of his stomach onto the floor.

"Watch out kid! You almost got it on me!" Someone exclaimed and pushed Shoma away, painfully scraping the once noble's face against the wooden floor.

"Sorry," Shoma mumbled, blinking his eyes open while flexing his hands. He sighed in relief at the feeling of freedom given to him by the absence of the ropes around his wrists. Next, he tried to move his feet and was struck by the oppressive texture of metal, rusting manacles circling his thin ankles.

"Damn it," the noble cursed under his breath and sat up while taking care to avoid his small puddle of sick. He wiped his mouth, flinching at the smell, and squinted into the gloom that was the small holding cell. Well, Shoma thought, the musty room seemed more like an old storage room than a cell. He eyed the steel door which was the only thing non-wooden in the room, then he turned his attention to the small porthole, which let in only a minuscule of light into his prison.

Suddenly, another bout of rocking overcame the ship and made Shoma double over clutching his stomach and his eyes screw shut in concentration to not vomit again.

"Where-where am I?" He called out into dreary room filled with ashen faced and hopeless cargo.

"On Nikolai Morozov's ship," a teenage boy just slightly younger than Shoma answered, the noble glanced at him. The teenager's knees were drawn to his chest and his face was buried against them. Shoma frowned, he had heard of that name before but wasn't sure where.

"Morozov?" Shoma whispered, not liking the annoyed glares he was receiving from the other forlorn passengers. The boy nodded, raising his face to look at Shoma. The noble averted his gaze, completely taken aback by the boy's strong features and, dare he think it, fiery eyes.

"A renowned pirate and...Human Trader." The noble swallowed, his mouth going dry with anxiety. His eyes searched the room frantically as he felt his breathing pick up and his heartbeat race, the information burning through his veins with panic.

"Human Trader?" He said between hyperventilating breaths, the teenager glanced at him strangely before drawing Shoma forcefully closer and slapping his palm against the noble's mouth.

"Breathe with me," The teenager said calmly; Shoma nodded and watched the boy take slow and deep breaths before exhaling just as slowly. He did as he was told and felt himself calm down from the point of having a hysterical breakdown.

"Okay-okay, I think I'm alright." Shoma said unsurely, taking another deep breath and exhaling as the boy had instructed.

"Thank you." The noble said lowly, bowing his head in appreciation.

"No problem," the teenager said in English which threw Shoma off. He blinked for a moment before dipping his head close the teenager.

"Foreigner? How are you really good at Japanese?" He asked unashamedly. The teenager laughed lowly before glancing sideways to the other people in their small prison.

"American. I speak English, really bad Chinese, and worse Japanese." Shoma nodded, turning his head to face the steel door opposite of them. He hummed to himself for a moment before turning back to the teenager who was watching him with a quivering lip, as if he were fighting back the urge to laugh.

"How did you get here?" The teenager shook his head before extending his hand to the noble.

"All these questions and you haven't even asked my name." Shoma blushed in embarrassment while clearing his throat and placing his hand in the teenager's.

"Shoma. Yours?" The boy smiled at him slightly, Shoma felt his heart tighten at the gentleness he didn't feel he deserved.

"Nathan. I'm from America, but the passenger ship my brother and I were on was attacked by Morozov near Okinawa on our way to Hangzhou port." Nathan said, his voice strained and his face tired. Shoma swallowed.

"...Where's your brother?" He asked gingerly, Nathan inhaled through his nose and sighed, returning his gaze to his knees once more before simply answering.

"He's dead." Shoma played with his fingers, he had expected something along those lines but he felt like an idiot for even asking. Though he felt sheepish for asking, he couldn't deny that he felt a kinship with Nathan due to the loss of their brothers.

"I'm sorry." He said, bowing his head to Nathan. The teenager raised his face and shrugged his shoulders.

"It sounds callous, but maybe that isn't the worst fate that awaits us in this situation." The noble nodded, more out of nervousness than actual agreement to Nathan's words.

"What about you?" Nathan asked, his hand patting Shoma's manacled ankles which were connected to Nathan's by a strip of rusting chains.

"I..." Shoma started off before letting his voice die in his throat. He shook his head and began again, thinking that Nathan had told his story so easily.

"I ran away from home." Nathan cocked an eyebrow.

"Why?" Shoma frowned and sighed.

"My heart was broken, so I thought it would be best to leave." Nathan patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"Well, I don't know how a broken heart compares to slavery but I don't think you made the right decision." The noble cracked a smile, but it quickly fell when he heard groaning.

"Sota!" Shoma called out, frantically looking this way and that for the serving boy.

"Quiet your voice, I have a headache." The serving boy grunted from his place against the adjacent wall, waving his hand dismissively in Shoma's general direction.

"Who's he?" Nathan asked, examining the serving boy from afar with a look of distaste.

"We ran away together." Shoma supplied, making sure to leave out the fact that it was Sota's fault that they were now enslaved. He was sure that the American wouldn't take kindly to that kind of information.

"I don't like him." Nathan replied immediately.

~

"Hmm, Yuzu quit." Javier mumbled drowsily, his face planted in the blanket and his hands shoving away what he thought to be Yuzuru's hands, which were currently touching him all over.

"Hey, I told you to stop." The Spaniard groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He blinked once, then twice. Once his vision was clear, he practically threw himself towards the entrance of the tent, as the person who he thought was Yuzuru was actually a middle aged man holding a knife in his hand.

"Who the hell are you?" Javier yelled, scrambling for his rapier and kicking his feet to no avail. He was dragged out of the tent by knife point and quickly tied up by the bandits that had come across their camp. He was thrown against a tree by the camp with another bandit watching him with a stern eye. Javier cursed, scanning the clearing for any signs of Yuzuru but seeing nothing. He bit his lip, hoping that the prince hadn't left him for dead.

"Huh? Looks like there's another person's things here..." One of the bandits commented, grabbing Yuzuru's bag and emptying its contents onto the ground then pointing to the evidence of the Prince's presence.

"Looks pretty fancy," another bandit murmured while plucking one of Yuzuru's yukata's off the ground, the fabric glittering in the sunlight.

"Hurry and find the other on-" The leader ordered before pausing and falling to his knees.

"Leader?" The bandit who was supposed to be watching Javier asked, his expression just as confused as the other bandits and Javier.

The leader merely opened his mouth, blood dribbling from his lips, then collapsed onto the dirt. The back of his shirt was blossoming red with blood from the fatal wound. Javier couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the unfolding chaos of the bandits being slain one by one, each looking different directions in search of the murderer.

"Can you untie me now?" Javier called out to the trees after the last bandit had been dealt with. He heard Yuzuru hum in agreement behind him and with one swipe of the prince's katana, Javier was free from his bonds.

"I never thought you, of all people, would do something like this." The Spaniard commented, a hand coming up to wipe the blood off of Yuzuru's cheek with his sleeve.

"Bandits not from here. They from next country and bother my people." The prince answered simply, sheathing his sword and turning away from the Spaniard.

"Besides, I not win on fluke this time." Yuzuru turned his head and sent a piercing glare over his shoulder to Javier. The knight grinned sheepishly.

"No, you didn't. Sorry." The prince jerked his head in a nod and started walking away, confused Javier followed him while making sure to give the prince his space.

Soon they came upon a babbling brook, where Yuzuru knelt at its bank and drew his sword out. He bowed his head then began to clean the sword of the drying blood. Javier watched with rapt attention as Yuzuru handled his sword with grace, delicate fingers caressing the edge with respect and gentleness. After the prince had washed the sword to his liking, he replaced it back into it's place by his hip and bowed his head in prayer. Those same fingers now pressed together tightly before his face as he mumbled words to himself quietly. Javier turned to leave, as he felt as if he were intruding on something he shouldn't be seeing, but he quickly thought better of it and resigned himself to watching.

After a long while, Yuzuru picked himself up off of the bank and turned to Javier, his was calm but those black eyes were the opposite.

"This isn't the first time you've ki-done this, have you?" The knight asked, mentally slapping himself due to his mess up. Yuzuru shook his head and began to walk back to camp.

"No," Yuzuru mumbled, keeping silent for the rest of their trek back to their ransacked campsite. Once there, they hurriedly packed up (Yuzuru tsking every once in a while as he brushed dirt off of his possesions). Then, much to Javier's confusion, Yuzuru walked over to the closest corpse and began divesting it of its threadbare clothes. Without paying much mind, the prince shoved the dirtied rags into his bag and nodded towards Javier as sign for them to leave.

The Spaniard merely cocked his head in question but followed the prince's lead nonetheless.

As the duo came closer to the port, the amount of trees thinned which made Yuzuru signal to Javier and both men guided their steeds off of the path and to a patch of denser vegetation.

"Wait," Yuzuru said as he dismounted; once he was off the horse, he removed his haori, then his jinbei and much to Javier's alarm, his black hakama.

"What are you doing?!" Javier asked nervously, eyeing the prince's blemish-less and smooth skin. He couldn't help but pay extra attention to the broadness of the prince's shoulders which thinned into a cinched waist and...  
Javier coughed and pointedly looked down at his own hands.

Meanwhile, Yuzuru removed the dirtied clothes from his pack and quickly dressed himself. Once he was finished, he bent over and gathered mud on his fingertips before smearing the muck over his face and in his hair.

"How I look?" Javier looked up, his ears and cheeks still red. He couldn't help but chuckle at the prince; his face earnest and bright despite the dirt.

"It's like you dived into a puddle." Yuzuru pouted while padding the mud onto his arms and neck.

"Like farmer?" The Spaniard nodded, minutely missing the sight of Yuzuru from before.

"I think it should be okay. No one will be able to recognize you with the clothes and the mud. Try to find one of those straw hats while we search for Shoma. It'll hid your face better." The prince nodded then mounted his horse once more and the duo trotted into the port after a short while.

~

 

"Where go first?" Yuzuru questioned quietly, tipping the straw hat that Javier had swiped for him over his face as they passed a group of civilian farmers chattering to themselves idly. Javier hummed for a moment, eyes darting around the stone buildings of the port town in search of any suspicious behavior. The horses clopped beside the duo calmly, neighing every once in a while as Yuzuru patted his steed to reassure his nerves.

"Marina. Even if we don't find anything, we can go to the port authority and ask for a proper search of all ships be mandatory before they leave the port." Yuzuru nodded, turning his head once more as a group of rowdy children passed them in a burst of laughter and screaming.

"Hn." Yuzuru replied, making sure to not say much in case someone over heard him and blew his cover. From that point on, the knight and prince made their way to the marina. Both paused for a moment to take in the beauty of the glittering water in the bay, deceptively calm with only ships bobbing in its tides.

"Never seen this before." The prince said, his face upturned in awe of the raw beauty of the ocean that Javier had once called his home.

"More beautiful than a freezing palace, anyway." Javier scoffed halfheartedly, only half meaning those words since the palace was gorgeous in its own right. However both the ocean and the Sendai Palace were incomparable.

"Shh." Yuzuru reached over and gingerly swatted his knight's shoulder, half warning and half indignant at the dig directed to his beloved palace.

Javier merely smirked and rolled his eyes while leading his prince through the marina; he watched the boats float with a heavy heart as he missed his own ship, he missed the rough and freeing lifestyle that being a pirate afforded him. Never answering to anybody and doing what he pleased...Javier scowled. Despite all of the things that had befallen him at the Sendai Palace, it wasn't like he hated being there. Besides, Yuzuru was there to keep him company.

He blinked. Those thoughts immediately escaped his mind as he came face to face with his old boat. Or at least what he thought was his old ship, since the name he had bestowed upon it was hastily scratched out and replaced with 'The Vasilisa'. Immediately, Javier's blood ran cold in his veins. He gulped and turned to Yuzuru, who was looking at him with confusion as the older man had stopped suddenly.

"Yuzuru, I'm going to need you to do something for me, okay?" The Spaniard said as calmly as possible so he didn't scare the prince.

"What?" Yuzuru asked, his eyes growing wide at Javier's uncharacteristic serenity and frantic eyes.

"Follow me," Javier directed, leading them away from the marina and to an area that looked the least dangerous.

"We not going to port authority?" The Spaniard shook his head while looking around, his body completely on edge.

"The guard outpost is down that way, if I don't return by sunset then go to them and tell them everything. Do not come looking for me okay?" Javier grabbed Yuzuru's shoulders and shook him slightly to get his point across. Yuzuru peered up at him, an unreadable expression on his face that was balanced between worry and cluelessness. However, the prince pushed the Spaniard away and grabbed his hands tightly.

"Where you going?" He asked seriously, his voice firm. Javier avoided his eyes but squeezed his prince's hands gently.

"I can't tell you. Just stay here with the horses until I come back." Without waiting for an answer, Javier ripped himself away and tied his sword to his belt before running in the direction of the marina. His blood was pumping in his ears and the sound of his feet hitting the cobblestone deafened him from any other sound. Memories flooded back to him so quickly that he worried he'd get whiplash and hoped beyond hope itself that his hunch was dead wrong, but he'd have to make sure first.

~

_"How dare you go against my orders!" Javier roared as he pointed his rapier towards the smirking Russian man sitting at his desk in his quarters. The man simply sighed, as if the Spaniard's anger was merely a nuisance instead of threatening._

_"I told you, Javier; you will never make a decent living just stealing from people. Things have changed. The real money is in the trading business." He said calmly, fingers curled in front of him and his elbows resting on the wooden desk._

_"Stop fucking with me Nikolai! You think this," Javier wildly gestured around himself, "all of this is because of money? I don't give a shit about money if this is how you want us to get it!"_

_Nikolai sighed, put upon yet amused._

_"You really are just a child, my dear boy. You think you can play pirate forever? With no power or influence to keep your worthless little self from being murdered." The Spaniard widened his eyes in rage and stepped forward, his blade never wavering from its target._

_"Your ideas about power and influence can go to hell. The women and children that you stole have nothing to do with us! They are to be released at the next port or your head will be at the bottom of the ocean." The captain of the ship snarled, turning away from the older man and sheathing his weapon._

_"Human cargo is the future, Fernandez. You're going to regret not getting in on the action while the market isn't saturated, and besides, are you sure you want to turn your back to me?" Javier froze, his mind going a mile a minute before he slowly turned to the older man._

_"Fuck you, Morozov." Nikolai laughed and snapped his fingers. Almost immediately, the door burst open and Javier was quickly apprehended by his own sailors._

_"What are you doing?! Let me go!" Javier hissed, trying to tear himself free to no avail._

_"They don't answer to you anymore, Fernandez. Unlike you, they know that they can become rich from selling human cargo." The Spaniard spat at Nikolai and received a stinging slap to the face in response._

_"I'll make sure to let Miki know of your absence from now on, so don't worry." Nikolai laughed and gesturing for the sailors to take Javier away._

_They dragged the Spaniard, kicking and screaming to the side of the ship and without further ado, tossed him into the freezing open ocean to drown._

~

Yuzuru frowned as he watched Javier sprint away from him and down the street in the direction that they had just came from. The Spaniard was acting extremely oddly considering that he had insisted on leaving the prince by himself. The prince pouted for a moment before removing his katana from his pack and strapping the sheath to his side.

He twisted his head in an effort to get a good look at himself, his frown deepening when he realized that his sword was far too noticeable and too ornate for a simple farmer to have. Biting his lip, the prince hurriedly tied one of his yukata's over his waist. The yukata covered the hilt and half of the sheath itself, he shrugged and tied the horses to a wood post then followed in Javier's footsteps.

Eventually, he came across a loud and raucous tavern. However, what shocked the prince was the familiar set of horses tied in front of the tavern, their saddle bags open and quite obviously rifled through.

Shakily, the prince went up to the horses and took a quick peek in the bags. He wrenched his hands away, as if he were burned. The trinkets inside the bag were the ones that Yuzuru had given him, apparently worthless to the thieves that had taken the noble's clothes.

With a determined look, Yuzuru tipped his hat down to obscure his face and entered into the terrifying looking tavern.

Upon entering, his vision was clouded by noxious smoke from the many cigars blazing between the fingers of the numerous pirates. Yuzuru gulped but pressed on towards the bar where he could get a good look of the patrons, hopefully he'd be able to see Shoma.

When he finally made it to the bar, he let his eyes scan the occupants before stopping at a familiar face.

Javier was making what seemed to be small talk with a man dressed like he was when the Spaniard had first been captured. Yuzuru watched them curiously, he felt something burn inside of him as Javier clapped the man on the shoulder while laughing. The other man was quite obviously enjoying the Spaniard's presence, even going as far as bringing his face closer to Javier's ear so he could whisper unknown words to him.

The prince felt himself reaching for his own sword as he wanted to badly to go over there and wrench the unknown man's hands off of his knight. Just as he was steeling himself up to confront them, the man turned around and his face became visible to the prince.

Yuzuru gasped; the man who Javier had seemed to be so friendly with was Patrick Chan. The same Patrick Chan who was wanted for crimes against Yuzuru's kingdom.

Without even thinking about his actions, Yuzuru unsheathed his katana and lunged forward, pushing past the crowd of shady pirates and advancing towards the two pirates.

"Chan!" He yelled, moving to stab the taller pirate with his sword but was stopped by a surprised Javier.

"What are you doing?" Javier scolded, deflecting another swipe at Patrick with his own weapon. Before Yuzuru could try to strike Patrick a third time, he was apprehended by a group of men that were protecting the taller pirate.

"Javi, who is this boy?" Patrick asked, his eyes narrowing at his old friend. Javier shot an angry glare at Yuzuru before knocking off the straw hat and roughly wiping the prince's face of grime.

"I thought Morozov wouldn't be happy with me returning empty handed." He smirked while grabbing Yuzuru's hair and tugging his face upwards so Patrick could get a good look at him.

"Is that...?" Patrick asked with wide eyes, his tone was breathless and the tavern became so quiet that even the sound of their breathing was loud.

"Crown Prince Yuzuru Hanyu. The last living male of the famed House of Hanyu. It was a little tough to gain his trust, but after a little while he took to me like a child." Yuzuru looked up at Javier, his eyes burning and his face set in a pained grimace.

"...Javi?" He whispered, his eyes searching Javier's face for any shred of falseness to his stinging words. He shivered when he found none.

"Shut it." Javier growled, yanking the prince's hair none too gently which earned him a pitiful whimper.

"I'll let Morozov know about the situation, meanwhile," Patrick turned to the men who were holding Yuzuru, "take him to the ship." Immediately they did as they were told, dragging the prince out of the tavern with Javier following closely behind. Once the group had made it onto the ship, the men tied Yuzuru up with rope then tasked Javier with removing the katana from him. As the Spaniard was doing so, he secretly slipped the royal blue cloth that Yuzuru had given him into the pocket of the dirty trousers. Together, both Yuzuru and Javier shared a meaningful look before the prince was thrown into the holding cell with the rest of the prisoners.


	13. Raise A Rebellion Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S BEGUN!  
> FS SEASON GUYSSS
> 
> Like always, thank you guys for reading, commenting, and giving my story Kudos! I love all of y'all! It's only several more chapters til the end, but I'm currently planning maybe one or two more one shots concerning this fic.
> 
> I'm also playing Mario Kart while editing so if there's any mistakes I missed, please lemme know!

Yuzuru stumbled into the makeshift prison, falling forward and slamming his face onto the floor since both of his feet and hands were tied tightly behind his back. He whimpered and tried to turn on his side and saw a familiar face.

"Yuzuru?" Shoma whispered, his eyes unbelieving and his mouth agape in surprise. Yuzuru wiggled his way towards his friend, a smile bright on his face despite his bonds.

"Shoma! Is that really you?!" The prince gasped, Shoma nodded and moved to untie his prince, but Yuzuru quickly stopped him.

"My pocket, there's something in it." Shoma bit his lip and reached into Yuzuru's pocket, removing the royal blue handkerchief and unveiling the small knife that was tucked into it.

"Why do you have this?" Shoma questioned before using the knife to cut Yuzuru free.

"Javi gave it to me before I was thrown in here." The prince replied, taking back the small weapon and the cloth before returning the items to his pockets.

"What? He was the one who threw you in here! That was him, wasn't it?" The noble bristled, his voice angry and strained.

"He had to. I didn't trust him and I almost blew his cover with the other pirates. At least now we found you." Shoma shook his head fervently, his expression only showing fear after the anger had passed.

"You shouldn't have come for me. This man, Morozov, he isn't like the rest of the pirates. He sells humans into slavery. Do you think Javier can somehow save the day with a man like that controlling the ship?!" Yuzuru bit his lips, suddenly unsure of his and Javier's non-existent plan to somehow save Shoma.

"It doesn't matter. I trust Javier now, and if you had trusted him as well then we wouldn't be in this situation to start with." Shoma opened his mouth as if he were going to argue more but quickly shut it and scowled, thoroughly cowed just from Yuzuru's words.

"...Sorry." He sighed and hung his head.  
"Um, can you guys repeat all that in English please?" Nathan cut in, his dark eyes darting between the prince and Shoma.

"Shoma is this the guy who-mmph." The noble slapped a hand on top of Nathan's mouth and tried to communicate to him that 'yes, this was the guy who broke my heart' and 'please don't say it', meanwhile Yuzuru regarded Nathan with curiosity.

"Shoma, is this new friend?" He asked, looking pleased that Shoma had managed to make a friend in spite of their situation.

"I don't know," Nathan turned to a blushing Shoma, "am I your friend?"  
"Yes yes, now shh." Shoma shot a warning glance to the American, daring him to say anything more on the subject of him and Yuzuru.

"Oh! Where is serving boy?" The prince asked, suddenly reminded of Sota.

"Sota? That guy is over there." Nathan jabbed his thumb towards the sleeping serving boy, his head lulling forward in a hushed snore.

"Don't worry about him." Shoma snapped, the momentarily relief he felt from finding Sota in the same prison as him had worn off quickly. Instead it was replaced with anger, regret, and betrayal.

"Why?" Yuzuru turned to the noble with a small frown, his dark eyebrows drawn together in confusion. Sota and Shoma had always been the best of friends, at least as far Yuzuru knew anyway.

"That bastard sold me out. He planned to lure me out and sell me to Morozov all along." Shoma spat, his fist clenching at his sides as he explained the situation to Yuzuru. For his part, the prince put a hand to his face and regarded the noble's unfortunate tale with a thoughtful face.

"Shoma, I understand the anger that you feel...However, keep in mind that Sota has had a very hard life. The boy's parents died even before ours did...He had to do a lot of unsightly things just to survive." Shoma averted his face while Nathan looked on with a scrunched face, trying his best to decode the Japanese.

"Don't think for a moment that betraying you was easy for him. Who knows, you might have done the same thing just to be free from the past within you." Yuzuru sighed, gently ruffling Shoma's already mussed up hair. The noble batted Yuzuru's hand away before taking it into his own, trembling with sorrow and fear.

"The last thing I need right now is a lecture from you." Shoma whispered, his voice quaking with barely restrained emotion. Truly and deeply, he felt sorry to Sota. The young boy had been the son of two murdered farmers and came to the Palace in search of work and opportunity. Yet, Shoma had paid no mind to that bitter past and it had nearly cost him his life.

"But I forgive him." The resentment still swirled inside of his chest, but he knew that simple words of forgiveness would do little to sway those toxic feelings. Instead, he promised himself to work hard to dispel them once they were rescued. If, of course, they didn't die trying.

"...Shoma." The noble turned to Sota, wide awake and seemingly faking his slumber. "I'm really sorry...Not that it means much, but what Prince Hanyu said was true. It's been hard to live beside you and because of that I plotted against you." The serving boy bowed in his head apologetically, then turned to the Prince.

"I will receive any and all punishment for my mistakes." Yuzuru shook his head.  
"I can only ask that you not return to the palace, besides that I have no intentions on imprisoning you." Sota gave the prince a relieved look before bowing his head once more in gratitude.

"Wait, I didn't say anything earlier because I didn't want to ruin the mood or anything...But Prince Hanyu? The Prince Hanyu of the Sendai Ice Palace, that Hanyu?" Yuzuru chuckled to himself at Nathan's shocked expression.

"Yes, I'm the Prince of the Sendai Ice Palace and rightful heir to the Snowdrop Throne." He said, which garnered the attention of the other occupants of their makeshift jail.

"Please to make your acquaintance, your majesty." Nathan said with a grin.

"With the prince here, we will be rescued. No doubt about that!" Another passenger exclaimed.

"We're practically saved!" A female prisoner said while a resonating atmosphere of excitement and palpable relief filled the small room.

"As Prince, I cannot promise that we will be rescued in a timely enough manner. Instead, there may come a time where we will have to fight our way out of here. When that time comes, I hope you will all join me." Yuzuru said while puffing out his chest and trying to sound a lot braver than how he felt. He heard a steady murmur of agreement which calmed his nerves. Now all he had to do was wait for Javier to come up with his part of the plan.

~

After throwing Yuzuru into the small make shift brig, Javier was then shuffled into a slightly larger bedroom. He paced back and forth for what seemed to be fifteen minutes until the door swung open and revealed Patrick.

"Javi, why did you come back? After all, what you and Morozov fought about isn't something you can just have a change of heart and be happy with." Patrick asked straight off the bat and without waiting for the door to close.

"You're right, for the most part." Javier laughed, making sure to come off lighthearted while secretly watching every single one of Patrick's moves. He was ready for any sly tricks his former second in command could possibly pull.

"But, after all that time struggling in the port and a brief stint of being captured...I realized that if I can't beat Morozov, then I might as well join him." Patrick shook his head and leaned against the door frame, a self-satisfied smirk stretched across his face.

"You've always been a bad liar, Javi. Lucky for you, we've been waiting for your return." The pirate knocked his fist against the door and stepped aside. Without any hesitation, Javier Raya stepped into the room and threw the other Spaniard's sheath at his feet.

"And it's about time too. You can't possibly know how much of a pain it was following Morozov's orders." Raya sighed, turning to Patrick and receiving a nod in agreement.

"Why isn't Miki with you?" Javier questioned after picking up his sword and placing it on Patrick's bed.

"Don't worry. After Morozov came into power, she escaped with our help." Patrick explained.

"Thank God, but why haven't you guys jumped ship yet?" Raya shrugged and stepped forward, clapping the other Javier's shoulder in a brotherly way.

"We knew without a doubt that you'd be back to take revenge on Morozov for making a fool out of you. It was only of matter of time and we couldn't let you do it alone." The younger Spaniard winked. Javier grinned at his friends gratefully, but shook his head.

"No. I'm not here for revenge." Both Patrick and Raya cocked an eyebrow at that admission. They shared a look of confusion before turning back to their former captain.

"Than what are you here for?" Patrick asked with a perplexed expression.

"Who normally keeps track of the slaves in the brig?" Javier questioned, ignoring Patrick in favor of getting the needed information that could help him rescue not only Yuzuru, but Shoma as well.

"I keep track of the slaves taken aboard, but Morozov assigns a different guard every night to keep watch." Raya said, his head turning to the side curiously.

"Does this have to do with the boy you brought to Morozov? The Prince?" Javier nodded to Patrick, his ears picking up the sound of someone coming close to the room. All three former shipmates could see the shadow of feet through the crack of the door and floor. They stayed silent until the pair of feet walked away, but they kept their voices hushed as a precaution.

"It does, but before I can explain anymore I have to know if Morozov captured any nobility from the Ice Kingdom." Raya narrowed his eyes as he thought back to the cargo reports that he had taken earlier the day before.

"There was two teenage boys who were captured, both from the Ice Kingdom but I wasn't told whether or not they were nobility." The older Spaniard bit his lip as he turned over the new information in his mind.

"It will have to do. I have no other choice but to look myself, especially since Yuzuru is down there..." Patrick shook his head.

"You can't. Morozov is going to track every single move you make. The only reason why we can even meet like this is because he's still on land trying to buy people." The tallest of the three friends replied while placing his hand on his chin thoughtfully.

"Fernandez, look I have no idea what the hell you're planning or what the slaves have to do with it...But whatever you need me to do, consider it done." Javier nodded gratefully to Patrick and received a similar look of determination from Raya.

"For now, can one of you go down to the brig and have a word with the Prince and verify whether or not Shoma is on this boat? Then we will regroup after I meet with Morozov and figure out how to get the prince off the boat. After they're safe, we can kill that bastard." Javier explained, his eyes alight with cold anger.

"I'll go talk to the Prince," Raya volunteered.

"Great. Patrick, while Raya is doing that; go to the armory and smuggle out as many weapons as you can and take them to the slaves. I can only protect Yuzuru and Shoma at most so they rest will need to fend for themselves." Patrick agreed and soon all three men went about enacting their plan for Morozov's downfall.


End file.
